THE final match of Round 8 saw West Coast Fever and Sunshine Coast Lightning clash, with a huge 24-goal victory (80-56) going the way of the Fever and seeing the side slip back into the top four. With Fever head coach Stacey Marinkovich announced as the new Australian Diamonds coach on Saturday, the Fever came out flying to prove their coach was well and truly up to the job and did not skip a beat as the match progressed.

A great start from the Fever set up an intriguing first quarter, with feeds going into Jhaniele Fowler far too easy and reading the moment Phumza Maweni left her mark to go out hunting. While the Fever were held up getting to circle edge, once they did so there was no stopping them serving the ball on a silver player to lead 7-3 as the Lightning called an early tactical timeout. The defensive work rate of Verity Charles and Jess Anstiss was immense, blocking Laura Scherian and Laura Langman from finding circle edge and any easy access to post. A couple of great pickups from the overall defensive Fever unit paid off well, although Langman was never far from the action with an intercept to spur her side into improved movement. 

Fifty-gamer Alice Teague-Neeld had a solid start, with the overall Fever attacking unit in particular playing with speed, cleanliness and little hesitance. But while the Fever had all the momentum, it was not the Lightning attack that was struggling but the defensive unit which was struggling to find turnover ball. Cara Koenen and Steph Wood had a fairly solid start, with their positioning and respective drives paying dividends. With speed up the court Lightning’s specialty, plenty of defensive pressure was switched on in transition by the Fever to limit opportunities. Wood was the first to put a much needed super shot on the board, taking the scores to 17-10, adding another not long after but inaccuracy was in the Lightning’s way of hitting the scoreboard too harshly. The momentum seemed to shift slightly toward the end of the quarter, with movement seeming to fall apart through the centre third for the Fever and the Lightning continuing to chip away at the tally. A third super shot from Wood saw the Lightning down by just three goals at the first change.

A massive second quarter needed the Lightning to switch on, with the two sides going toe-to-toe in the first few minutes and both teams getting hands to ball but not managing to gather the turnover. Timing along the goalline continued to pay off for Koenen but Fowler was doing the same up her end, with defenders struggling to negate their opposition. Some unlucky calls not going the way of the Lightning did not help the side make up the margin, with Maweni and Karla Pretorius using every trick in their repertoire to find the loose ball but failing to really impact the way they needed to. Ingrid Colyer‘s speed was immense, with the zippy wing attack utilising her quick feet to open up the space, with a huge ball to Fowler for the tall timber’s 2000th Suncorp Super Netball goal and her 33rd for the match. Connections continued to fail in attack for the Lightning, with stagnant movement out the front allowing Fever to create plenty of turnover ball. Sunday Aryang entered the defensive circle as Peace Proscovia headed to the same circle for the opposing side, with the latter to provide a real target to post. 

The super shot period was where the Lightning attempted to kick it up a notch once more, with Wood adding another to her tally to reduce the scoreline to 14. Searching for options, the Lightning rolled on Annika Lee-Jones, with the youngster’s height matching Fowler’s but her inexperience seeing her lack the X-factor the Lightning needed to negate Fowler. Langman would not stop, in every contest but unable to find the turnover and one of the only Lightning players who did not seem lacklustre. A huge half time margin would need to see a huge Lightning comeback, with a massive 44-goal haul to the Fever leading the Lightning by 19.

The second half opened with another three Fever goals, with the side unwilling to let the Lightning get a look in, although it seemed that the entire Lightning outfit had a fraction more hunt in them defensively. But more basic errors continued to plague the two-time premiers, wasting precious ball as the Fever continued to find smooth avenues to post. Maddy McAuliffe’s hand over pressure was a huge bonus but the star-studded circle defence did not seem to be clicking as they usually do. Accuracy was not an issue for either side, with a much more even quarter seeing the Fever stay ahead but only just as the Lighting continued to press and apply more defensive pressure on the ball. But little difference appeared on the scoreboard, with the Fever still remaining 20 goals ahead with all the confidence in the world. The Lightning needed to hit a few super shots to really get back in the contest, but instead the Fever defence well and truly kicked it up a notch once more as the wheels really fell off for the Lightning. A 19 goals to 11 quarter saw a huge 27-goal margin heading into the final quarter.

Maweni and Lee-Jones took the court together in the final quarter, and while the Lightning got the first few goals of the quarter there was not a lot they could do to steal a win from the Fever. Fever emptied their bench as the quarter went on, resting both Bruce and Fowler, with the Jamaican off the court for the first time all season and a new-look shorter goaling combination. Much better transition down court from the Lightning showed glimpses of what could have been, with plenty of argy-bargy in the defensive circle and a Lightning timeout seeing youngster Annabelle Lawrie get her debut in at goal shooter, sinking her first shot on cue. With a solid work rate from Jacqui Russell and Langman the Lightning found plenty of ball back but it was too little too late with Charles having the game of her life and most of the Fever players winning their individual battles. A super shot from Kaylia Stanton saw the Fever beat their individual game-high score of 74, as the final 24-goal tally (80-56) saw an extraordinary Fever victory.

For the winning side, Fowler (57 goals from 59 attempts) and Teague-Neeld (10 goals, 20 assists, an intercept and two pickups) were magnificent heading up the frontline, while player of the match, Charles was instrumental with 27 goal assists and two gains. For the Lightning, Langman was tough as ever with four gains (three intercepts) while Scherian was quiet by her standards but still managed 15 assists and two intercepts in a solid outing. Koenen (18 goals) and Wood (21 goals) had their work cut out for them against Bruce (nine gains) and Francis (seven gains) who were both huge with 45 and 35 minutes respectively.

>>>FEVER TEAM PAGE
>>>LIGHTNING TEAM PAGE
>>>FULL MATCH STATS

—

WEST COAST FEVER 20 | 24 | 19 | 17 (80)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 17 | 8 | 11 | 20 (56)

Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Alice Teague-Neeld
WA: Ingrid Colyer
C: Verity Charles
WD: Jess Anstiss
GD: Stacey Francis
GK: Courtney Bruce

Lightning

GS: Cara Koenen
GA: Steph Wood
WA: Laura Scherian
C: Laura Langman
WD: Maddy McAuliffe
GD: Karla Pretorius
GK: Phumza Maweni

Jhaniele fowler, alice teague-neeld, stacey francis, courtney bruce, cara koenen, steph wood, laura langman, karla pretorius, phumza maweni, sunday aryang, peace proscovia, annika lee-jones, jacqui russell, annabelle lawrie, maddy mcauliffe, kaylia stanton, verity charles, jess anstiss ingrid colyer