In a stunning return to form, the Melbourne Vixens snapped a three-game losing streak and returned to the top of the trans-Tasman netball championship ladder with a 48-40 win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday at Hisense Arena.
In what has become a trademark start to their matches, the Vixens were again slow out of the blocks and trailed by as many as eight goals midway through the second quarter.
Led by their captain Natalie von Bertouch at centre, the Thunderbirds were controlling the midcourt and giving their goalers, Erin Ball and Carla Borrego, many more opportunities than their rivals.
The Thunderbirds held a six-goal break at halftime.
Showing the versatility of the Vixens' line-up, coach Julie Hoornweg swung the changes at halftime. She replaced Chelsey Tregear at centre with Sarah Wall to try to curb von Bertouch's dominance. Hoornweg also rotated her defenders.
The plan worked. Wall's pace caused the Thunderbirds problems in the mid-court and the goalers, who had turned the ball over on 19 occasions in the first half, cut out their errors.
The star of the third quarter was Vixens' goal shooter Kate Beveridge, who took control of the shooting circle. She shot 12 goals from 13 attempts to give the Vixens a two-goal advantage at the final break. She ended the match with 29 goals from 36 attempts.
"We had a really good chat at halftime," Beveridge said. "When we came back, we switched on. We knew we could forget about the first half and we knew we had the talent and ability to win the game."
Beveridge admitted another loss could have seen the Vixens in danger of missing the finals.
"Had we lost today, we would have made it very hard for ourselves to make the finals, and especially to knock off a team on the top," Beveridge said.
"I think we did a fantastic job and help put that spark back in our game."
With just four rounds left before the finals, Vixens' assistant coach Eloise Southby-Halbish said the group still needed to find consistency within a match.
"This group is an amazingly talented group. As a team, they work together very well but it is still finishing off four quarters of netball. Yes, we had a win but there are still a lot of areas we can work on to progress," she said.
It is the second consecutive loss for the Thunderbirds, who were shock losers to the Central Pulse a fortnight ago, before having the bye in the last round. Next week, they play the NSW Swifts in a critical game while the Vixens have a bye.
The match was played in front of a crowd of 7212 - the largest of the season.
NZN