Match Report: Vixens claim Queen’s Birthday victory

It was a tight opening few minutes with both sides wrestling for momentum. Collingwood capitalised on some early missed opportunities before Emily Mannix got to work, imposing herself against Shimona Nelson. Kiera Austin had a hot hand in attack, commanding the ball while co-captain Liz Watson was influential around circle edge as we established a handy two-goal buffer.

The intensity increased in the second term with Jo Weston creating plenty of turnovers down back. Austin took just about every second pass while Kate Eddy took advantage of her long arms to reel in errant passes. Mwai Kumwenda came to life, combatting the physicality and tricks of Geva Mentor as we pulled away to a five-goal lead at half time.

Rahni Samason entered the game at goal shooter in the third and took no time at all to assert herself on the contest, sinking four goals straight. Within the blink of an eye, we pushed out to a 10-goal lead with Kate Moloney and Watson leading the way through the centre third. But Collingwood rallied in the final minutes of the third thanks to some Sophie Garbin super shots.

The momentum swings continued in the last as Collingwood reduced the margin to just two goals but the composure of Watson helped to steady the ship. Kumwenda returned to the court as the Magpies maintained their pressure to sneak back within one goal. Simone McKinnis reached into her bag of tricks with Hannah Mundy pulling on the wing attack bib, Watson moving to centre and Moloney rolling into wing defence as we secured a thrilling two-goal victory.

Our attention now turns to the major semi final when we take on West Coast Fever at John Cain, this Saturday 18 June.

Tickets will be available via Ticketek - visit our finals ticketing webpage for details.