Rough starts for Aiken and Byfield

BRISBANE, Australia (CMC):

Jamaican star players Romelda Aiken and Althea Byfield have endured tough starts to the second season of netball's lucrative ANZ Championship and are without a win from two games with their teams.

Aiken's Queensland Firebirds were beaten this past weekend by Melbourne Vixens and Central Pulse, with Byfield, lost to LG Northern Mystics.

Aiken led her side in attack with a second consecutive game-best performance but the Vixens outscored the Firebirds in a tense 54-51 result at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

The Vixens led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, 27-26 at the half and 42-38 at the end of the third but needed a rousing finish to fend off Aiken and the Firebirds, who drew level at 50-50 with three minutes remaining.

The Australian international Sharelle McMahon was superb for the Vixens - shooting 27 goals from 29 attempts - and helped her side surge into a three-goal winning margin.

Aiken, the tournament's joint MVP in the inaugural cham-pionship last year, hit a game-high 42 goals from 49 attempts.

In Auckland, LG Northern Mystics outplayed Byfield's Central Pulse 54-50 after holding quarterly leads of 17-10, 27-22, 39-38.

In the season openers on April 4, the Adelaide Thunderbirds topped the Firebirds 60-48, although Aiken posted a game-high 33 from 37 for 89 per cent scoring, and Southern Steel got past Byfield's Central Pulse 55-46.