The Australian Institute of Sport began its 2010 Australian Netball League campaign in the best possible fashion, defeating the Canberra Darters 63-38 at the AIS Arena.

The Arena was a sea of Darters pink for the local derby but despite enjoying the support of a parochial home crowd Canberra was never in the hunt against a talent laden AIS.

Boosted by the presence of six members of the Australian under-19’s team, the AIS was dominant from start to finish and led at every change.

AIS Captain Shannon Eagland said the strong showing was especially rewarding given the disrupted preparation her side had faced in the lead up to the opening match of the season.

“The younger girls have been away with the Australian camp for the last week so we’ve been a bit divided, this is really the first time we’ve been able to come together as a group recently,” Eagland said.

“We know that we can’t go out half hearted in any game this year and I think we played well and came away with a really good win.”

The gulf in class between the two sides was evident early in the match as the AIS went on a seven-goal run to open the scoring.

The Darters were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the 5th minute through goal attack Tiffany Lincoln but there was little joy for Canberra in the opening quarter and they trailed 19-4 at the first break.

The AIS was clearly in control throughout the second term and some slick work from the shooting combination of Kellyann Grayson and Simone Nalder helped to extend the lead to 19 goals at half-time.

It was more of the same after the main interval as the AIS enjoyed its best quarter of the match, turning the ball over at will in centre court.

Making use of a clear height advantage inside the attacking circle, the Institute tallied up 20 goals in the third quarter to take a 51-21 margin into the final term.

With the result well and truly decided, a drop in intensity saw the Darters narrow the deficit in the closing stages but the late goal scoring surge was purely academic as the Institute ran out deserved 25 goal victors.