Mainland have upset the form books in the Synergy Hair Netball League with a commanding 24-goal victory over the Northern Marvels.
Sitting in last place heading into the Round 8 match, Mainland controlled the game from start to finish at The Trusts Arena in Auckland to beat the third-placed Marvels 70-46.
Despite giving away a handful of goals in the dying stages of the match, Mainland dominated in all positions on court and captain Lily Marshall was delighted to put 70 goals on their northern opponents.
“I’m just so proud,” the defender said after the final whistle.
“I think it just proves how much we’ve grown as a team this season.”
Marshall said the defensive unit worked well throughout the match which culminated in eight intercepts.
“I think we worked a lot on breaking the connections, starting from that centre pass,” she said.
“Working bit by bit and wearing them down, it’s been a bit focus. I think it showed out there with the intercepts from the back.”
But she said they still needed to play for the full 15 minutes of each quarter when they stepped up again next week.
“I think we still want to focus on that full 60 minutes,” she said. “At times in the last bit of each quarter we were dropping off – if we can do that consistent game, we’ll be good.”
There was little Mainland could do wrong for much of the match as the both the attack line and defence unit worked as one.
They were the first to score and immediately the Marvels substitution bench was called upon with Katie Te Aho making an early exit and Anne Kirikiri injected into the game.
Mainland were patient from the opening whistles, not afraid to reset a number of times as they opened up a two-goal buffer.
In contrast, the Marvels were able to use plenty of depth with the ball for a quick route into the shooting circle – Charli Foster driving strongly to circle edge for her feeding.
But Mainland came to play and with the experience of Vika Koloto at wing attack, the visitors extended their advantage to eight with four minutes to play in the spell.
Being kept scoreless for two minutes, the Marvels made personnel changes at both ends with Auteletoa Tanimo picking up the shooter bib and Courtney Katterns coming on at goal defence.
A late flurry from the Marvels closed the gap, but the hosts still found themselves trailing 11-19 at the first break.
Mainland shooter Olivia Dijkstra netted all 15 of her first quarter attempts and her strong hold ensured she was a key target early in the second spell.
Errors marred play from both teams in the opening stages of the quarter as they struggled to find their rhythm on attack.
Again it was Mainland to find their feet first, led by Koloto – using her experience to slow play down when needed – and defender Julia Wynands who went hunting for ball.
Marvels coach Ripeka Pirie turned to her bench again to stem the flow of red-and-black goals, making changes to both ends.
But Mainland marched on and went into the main break with a commanding 38-20 lead.
Lifting their intensity from the outset of the third spell, the Marvels went about their job of cutting the deficit through some strong attacking drives.
It was a hard ask for the hosts however with the collective defensive pressure applied by Mainland throughout the court causing them all sorts of problems.
Shutting down Dijkstra proved difficult – the shooter teaming up well with playmaker and goal attack Taiana Day who had the ability to take the pressure off her shooter when needed.
But a couple of wayward passes opened the door for the Marvels to go on a small run, although it was still a mountain to climb for the hosts trailing 35-54 heading into the last turn.