Matrics defeat Phoenix to consolidate second spot on Subway Cup ladder

Contours Matrics have defeated Health and Life Phoenix 50-45 in their entertaining round 15 match at Netball SA Stadium on Friday night.

Both sides were at full strength and demonstrated the kind of match spectators will see come finals time.

The Matrics victory keeps them 7 points clear of third placed Spring Gully Newton Jaguars, while the loss for the Phoenix dropped them to fourth on percentage.

The Phoenix, while losing, should not be too disappointed as their recent good form continues to build at the right time of the season after pushing a strong Matrics side right to the final whistle.

The Matrics got the better start moving out to a 5 goal lead after 6 minutes, combining good pressure in defence with good ball movement in attack to create shooting opportunities.

Some good defensive work from Phoenix co-captain and GK Dalice Kennedy starting paying dividends as her side settled through the mid-court. After a well-fought quarter, the Phoenix took a 1-goal lead at quarter time after Kylie Jarrett scored on the whistle.

The second quarter started with a battle of defence as both sides forced turn over after turn over in an entertaining patch of the match. Dalice Kennedy continued her good work from the first quarter as her namesake Sarah Kennedy led the Matrics defence from GD.

After a scoreless 4 minutes of play Matrics GA Laura Packard got the opening goal of the quarter. It took 7½ minutes for the Phoenix to score through GA Mel Rowland and by that time Matrics held a 5-goal advantage. But, once again the Phoenix fought back to reduce the lead to 1 at halftime.

The third quarter could possibly have been the difference as the Matrics once again got the better start moving out to a 6-goal lead mid way through the quarter.

Matrics WA Sheree Wingard was having a very good match on the edge of the circle and combined well with C Kyra Brown to control the mid-court and keep their lead in tact. At the final break the Matrics led 4 goals.

Phoenix continued to challenge a composed Matrics side throughout the final quarter getting the lead down to 3 goals. Good defence again from Sarah Kennedy and WD Melissa Apthorpe along the defensive third line kept the Phoenix at bay.

Matrics coach Jacqui Illman while happy with an important victory noted that there was still improvement in her side particularly after letting a good side like the Phoenix back into the match.

“We did start well in each quarter which was pleasing, it’s something we need to work on though for the quarter, to finish off the quarter much better because we did let them back in almost every quarter.

“We had some good drive out of defence and I thought Sheree came up the middle really nicely which opened it up for us going into attack.

“It was an important one because Phoenix are third on the ladder and have been really good form, they had a bit of shaky patch but the last few weeks they’ve looked really good so it was an important win for us.” She said. 

Phoenix coach Lee-Anne Cummin said that while disappointed with the loss, her side could take plenty of positives away from the match, particularly continually coming back at Matrics.

“You can’t afford to give teams like Matrics a start like that at the start of every quarter but pleasing signs were that we were able to pull it back, we didn’t let it blow out.

“Whilst your never happy with a loss and you’ll never say a loss is a good thing, there are plenty of positives to take away from the game.

“I thought our defensive end was awesome, they gave our attack end plenty of ball, I thought our decision making under pressure tonight was good, it was actually our decision making when we weren’t under pressure that was more poorly executed.” She said.

In other round 15 matches, ETSA Contax had another big win against The Royal Cougars defeating them by 22 goals, 69-47. Spring Gully Newton Jaguars came through an incredibly tense encounter with Stellar Homes Garville winning 52-51 moving them back into the top 4. 

The battle for the finals is heating up in the middle of the table with four teams separated by just 3 points. every match will be vital in the run to the finals.

Quarter-by-quarter Scores:

Q1:   Matrics  12 – 13  Phoenix

Q2:   Matrics  22 – 21  Phoenix

Q3:   Matrics  37 – 33  Phoenix

Q4:   Matrics  50 – 45  Phoenix

Shooting Match Statistics:

Matrics   50/64   78.12%

C. Lange:   33/40   82.5%

L. Packard:   10/13   76.92%

S. Hentschel:   7/11   63.64%

Phoenix   45/58   77.59%

K. Jarrett:   33/39   84.62%

M. Rowland:   8/12   66.67%

M. Gibb:   4/7   57. 14%