IT was a history making performance from Adelaide Thunderbirds who claimed their first Suncorp Super Netball win over Collingwood Magpies (60-52). The Thunderbirds were hot from the opening whistle with their connections on song to put Collingwood on the back foot and forced into playing catch-up netball.

Adelaide burst out of the blocks with their attack on song from the opening whistle as South African product Lenize Potgieter delivered the first goal of the game despite her side working in overdrive to weave their way into the circle. A missed shot coming from the hands of Shimona Nelson allowed Layla Guscoth to reap the rewards as Adelaide put their foot down to skip out to a three goal lead. youngster Georgie Horjus picked up where she left off from last round, finding her range immediately and showcasing confidence to go to post unbothered by the long arms of the Collingwood defence. The Thunderbirds continued their dominant ways with a five-nil start as their connections in attack carved up Collingwood thanks to Horjus and Chelsea Pitman finding a wealth of space. Nelson struggled to find her range thanks to the long arms of Shamera Sterling and Guscoth.

Collingwood were exploited through the midcourt and lacked their normal transitional defence as the Thunderbirds ran rampant headed by Pitman. An early timeout from Collingwood did not seem to worry the Thunderbirds as Sterling came up big with an intercept to stop the Magpies in their tracks. Emma Ryde came onto the court, her first time since Round 1, and struggled to have an impact with Sterling riding her and pushing her high in the circle. Collingwood nailed their first goal at the nine minute mark but it remained one way traffic as the effortless offloads between Horjus and Potgieter kept Collingwood guessing. As the lead blew out to nine goals, Gabby Sinclair led the troops in the goal circle, driving hard to draw the attention of Guscoth but it was costly turnovers from Collingwood that continued to allow the Thunderbirds the chance to extend their lead. The Magpies managed to reduce the margin to seven goals stealing some momentum back but simply could not keep up.

Looking down the barrel of an already growing deficit, Geva Mentor injected herself into the game, out hunting to create deflections and disrupt the Thunderbirds flow. Up the other end, Adelaide was putting on a show in defence, forcing the Magpies to clump together on one side of the court and pick off passes. Sterling contested every single high ball and made full use of her lean over the shot to intimidate Sinclair. Melissa Bragg came alive picking up a loose ball but Guscoth proved that anything you can do I can do better, screaming through the attacking third to collect an intercept.

Potgieter dominated under the post taking the ball incredibly strongly and unfazed by the physicality of Mentor and Jodi-Ann Ward under the post. Collingwood were unable to penetrate the Thunderbirds defence as Shadine van der Merwe proved to be a force to be reckoned with around circle edge to quell the influence of Kelsey Browne. Coming out of the timeout Collingwood made a couple of changes with Nelson returning to goal shooter and Matilda Garrett donning the goal defence bib as Ward switched into wing defence in hope to nullify Pitman who seemed to have the ball on a string with her strong drives and pinpoint delivery into the circle wreaking havoc. The lead got out to 12 goals for Thunderbirds as Sterling continued to have a field day down back and Sasha Glasgow found her range.

Collingwood came out with a real fire in the belly, down by 10 goals at half-time and looking to make amends. The late introduction of Nyah Allen in the second quarter worked wonders and the young goal attack maintained her composure in the third to sink the first shot of the half and use her speed to dart around the court. Collingwood won ball back thanks to Ward pressuring Hannah Petty on the take as they piled on four consecutive goals to eat into the deficit. Increased defensive pressure from the Pies across the court forced the Thunderbirds to go searching as they missed their rhythm in attack and started to panic with ball in hand.

Collingwood reduced the margin to six goals as Mentor took the game by the horns and shut down Potgieter’s preliminary moves, while Garrett chimed in to help win ball back and force Glasgow to do the heavy lifting in the goal circle. Up the other end, Nelson found more room in the goal circle to fly for balls and hit the scoreboard as Madi Browne delivered the ball with confidence into the Jamaican goaler. Momentum was well and truly swinging the Pies way as they cut the margin back to four goals with Sinclair downing a super shot while the Thunderbirds failed to sink the long bombs.

It was goal for goal early in the quarter as each side treasured possession and cautiously worked the ball into the circle to keep the scoreboard ticking over. After a somewhat quiet term by her means, Sterling starred with an impressive intercept, but Molly Jovic answered the call for Collingwood with a clever tip and chase down to dish off to Nelson to complete the play. The Magpies were persistent, not willing to give an inch, however it was Horjus who they did not seem to have an answer for with the 18-year-old carving up the court to keep the Thunderbirds’ nose in front. A strong finish to the term from Sterling got her side over the line in what was a history making performance.

It was a complete performance from Potgieter finishing with 39 goals at 100 per cent accuracy – for the second week straight – while the output from Horjus was impressive with the young goaler sinking 17 goals from 20 attempts. Nelson struggled to find her mojo early but managed 23 from 25 while Sinclair played a good support role for Nelson in the black and white with 10 goals of her own. Sterling continued her scintillating form with a whopping six intercepts, nine deflections – four resulting in gains – and two rebounds. Mentor was key for Collingwood down back with 15 deflections and four rebounds while Ward plied her trade thanks to her closing speed and long arms.

>>> MAGPIES TEAM PAGE

>>> THUNDERBIRDS TEAM PAGE

>>> FULL MATCH STATS

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Collingwood Magpies 11 | 11 | 16 | 14 (52)
Adelaide Thunderbirds 17 | 15 | 12 | 16 (60)

STARTING SEVEN:

Collingwood Magpies:

GS: Shimona Nelson
GA: Gabby Sinclair
WA: Kelsey Browne
C: Madi Browne
WD: Molly Jovic
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Geva Mentor

Adelaide Thunderbirds:

GS: Lenize Potgieter
GA: Georgie Horjus
WA: Chelsea Pitman
C: Hannah Petty
WD: Shadine van der Merwe
GD: Layla Guscoth
GK: Shamera Sterling