In a tough battle up in Adelaide, the Melbourne Mavericks were desperate to keep their finals hope alive, coming up an Adelaide team that know the Premiership feeling all too well.
Eleanor Cardwell was welcomed back into the side, however, Molly Jovic was ruled out of this week’s game with a concussion scare, opening up room for Tayla Fraser to get the nod in the starting seven, leaving Montana Holmes eagerly awaiting her chance to take the court.
Q1: 15-14, Mavs down.
In a thrilling start to the 60 minutes, the Mavericks came out of the gates with an immediate turnover, setting the tone for the first quarter, and proving to the Thunderbirds that a win was going to be no walk in the park.
The Mavericks played with speed early, and the physicality of the game was immense from the opening whistle, with neither team willing to back down. A rallying passage of play from both sides saw Nankivell, against her old side, take an incredible intercept, responded to by Sterling-Humphrey, winning back the ball for the home side, only for Parmenter to steal it back and solidify a Mavericks’ goal.
The Sunehine girls, in Shimona Jok and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey were up against eachother, and certainly putting on a show for the audience. Meanwhile, Parmenter was doing a stellat job at rattling Georgie Horjus, putting her off her normally unfaultable feeds into the goal circle.
POWER 5:
Come the Power Five, Cardwell announced herself a threat against old friends with a super shot, putting the Mavs right back in it.
No super shots came from the Thunderbirds, happy to keep sending the ball into Aiken-George for the one pointers.
A few errors in judgement from the Mavericks saw them scrambling at the end of the quarter, however, the team came up only one goal short leading into the second.
Q2: 33-25, Mavs down
The second quarter, notoriously the Thunderbirds’ best, was a tough one for the Mavs.
Olivia Lewis was up for every pass to Aiken-George, within a fingertips reach most times. Jenner would often double tag Aiken-George, trying to shut down Adelaides under the post shots and force the likes of Lauren Frew to shoot long.
Sterling-Humphrey was taken from the court gaving been hit in the face, putting Latanya Wilson into Goal Keeper, who, as a Wing Defence primarily, took a huge intercept on Jok, leaving the Mavericks scrambling.
POWER 5:
Cardwell once again shot a two pointer, trying her very best to get her side back into the game. Sinclair came on into Goal Attack to try and shoot some super shots for her side as well.
Jok came on into Goal Keeper to try and keep their opponents on their toes, and did an excellent job at throwing a spanner into the works against Aiken-George.
Coming into half time, the Mavs were down by eight goals, but refusing to give up hope.
Q3: 49-34, Mavs down
In an exciting third quarter for the Mavericks, Montana Holmes got her SSN debut out at Centre, and her team got right behind her.
Nankivell moved to Wing Attack to try and assert some dominance down the attack end, however, unfortunately for the newbies on the block, the Thunderbirds were outsmarting the Mavericks, beating them with on court experience, as a side that consistently plays with their full 10 athletes.
The scores at 42-29, the Mavericks called a timeout to regroup and reset. Head Coach, Tracey Neville asked her team to play “clinical netball”, which is exactly what the Mavs set out to do.
Manu’a to GD saw her win one gain and one deflection, matching that of Tayla Fraser in Wing Defence.
Both Lewis and Cardwell took intercepts this quarter, and with Sinclair back out into Goal Attack, slotting a super shot, the Mavs suddently had a surge in confidence and belief coming into the final quarter of play.
Q4: 67-41, Mavs lose
Tayla Fraser went into Centre at the start of this quarter, with Sinclair remaining in Goal Attack.
An early fumble from the Thunderbirds, driven by pressure from the Mavericks, saw a chance to start chipping away at the scoreboard come to life.
However, the hands over pressure from the likes of Sterling-Humphrey and Matilda Garrett were unstoppable, taking multiple blocks of the shot from the Mavs. Despite Lewis doing exactly that to Horjus, on the whole, with the Mavs unable to find answers for the tenacity of the T-Birds.
POWER 5:
The power five saw the Thunderbirds shoot their first supershots for the game, coming from Horjus and Lucy Austin.
Unfortunately for the Mavs, the Thunderbirds outplayed them this game, solidifying themselves in the top two.
Despite the game not going the way of the Mavs, the team will be far from giving up. Taking the week to reset, there is no doubt that they will have all guns blazing in their upcoming match against the Sunshine Coast Lightning!
NEXT GAME AND HOW TO WATCH:
The Mavericks will take on the Sunshine Coast Lightning for the second time on Saturday June 29, 7:00pm AEST, MyState Bank Arena, in Hobart, Tasmania!
