Muscular Mystics Accused Of Roughing Up Romelda
Apr 26th, 2008 | By admin | Category: Sports
Firebirds goal attack Janelle Lawson last night accused the Northern Mystics of roughhouse tactics after Queensland’s bruising 46-40 win in the trans-Tasman netball league at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
Lawson took aim at the Mystics questionable checking of star shooter Romelda Aiken who eventually brushed off the attention to lead the Firebirds to their third straight home victory.
Both the Firebirds and Mystics labelled the game the most physical they’ve encountered in the fledgling ANZ Championship as each team gave as good as they got.
Former Silver Ferns centre Temepara George exemplified the no- holds-barred approach in a fiesty battle with energetic Firebird Katie Walker.
But Lawson, who stepped up with 15 goals as Jamaican sensation Aiken was rattled early by powerful Fijian Vilimaina Davu, felt some of the Mystics’ defensive argy-bargy crossed the line.
“There was definitely a bit of biff,” Lawson said.
“Romelda obviously attracts a lot of attention, being the size she is, I think people can’t beat her with skill sometimes so they turn to a bit of biff.
“It’s times like that that you’ve got to realise that you’re goal attack and you have to shoot as well.”
Aiken eventually finished with a game-high 27 goals but also came off early in the last quarter with an ankle injury which isn’t considered serious.
Although conceding 6cm in height, Davu had a big weight advantage on the stringbean Aiken and used every extra kilo in her highly-criticised frame to test her mettle.
The tactics seemed to work as the 19-year-old missed two elementary attempts near the net as the Mystics jumped out to a 11-6 lead.
The Mystics weren’t helped by making 37 turnovers to the Firebirds’ 28.
“We knew it was going to be very tough today but I thought when we came back from four or five goals down to lead in the first quarter that gave us a lot of inspiration,” Firebirds captain Peta Stephens said.
Davu said: “We had a great start but we didn’t keep it up.”
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