Phoenix rise on league ladder

PHOENIX continue to make waves in Townsville City Netball, this time knocking over Burdekin 42- 37.

Scoring one of the season’s big upsets last week over the previously unbeaten Neptunes, Phoenix backed it up with an equally impressive allround showing against second placed Burdekin.

Trailing by seven goals at halftime, Phoenix heaped pressure on Burdekin with relentless defensive pressure to come away with the Round 10 win.

Phoenix will now have a bye, which comes as bittersweet timing for coach Rebecca Bulloch.

“You just want to keep that momentum rolling,” Bulloch said.

“But we’ll train hard over the weekend and make sure we’re ready to keep going.”

The run of form has propelled Phoenix into fourth on the premier league ladder after appearing to sit well outside finals contention last month.

They were made to work for their latest win, however, with Burdekin’s formidable shooting combination pushing Phoenix to the limit.

Defenders Ashton Gainsford and Maddy Hill were the defensive linchpins for Phoenix, with the pair helping to prevent Burdekin from extending its halftime buffer.

“The Burdekin shooting combo is really strong and no one ever looks forward to coming up against them,” Bulloch said.

“But our circle defenders were fantastic and they played a huge role in allowing us to build pressure.

“Across the court we were strong defensively and we built pressure throughout the game.

“The first quarter was very close and by halftime we were behind, but because of that pressure we built we were able to bring it home.”

Neptunes overcame last week’s loss to beat MarianVixens 47- 26 and reaffirm their standing as premiership big guns, while Saints also dominated in their 55- 35 win against Runaways. Highlanders had the bye this week but will return to action on Monday against Runaways.