WEST Coast Fever were handed their second consecutive loss last night in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) going down to Sunshine Coast Lightning by four goals (65-61). It was a complete turnaround from the Lightning who suffered a surprise loss last round to the Vixens but came out with a renewed sense of passion and determination against the Fever.

Verity Charles got things underway with a quick centre pass before Jhaniele Fowler delivered the goods under the post. Cara Koenen dipped into her bag of tricks to use her fancy footwork to evade the body of Courtney Bruce to level the scores. It was turning into a goal for goal slog early before a miss-directed pass from Alice Teague-Neeld gifted possession back to the Lightning  as Karla Pretorius pounced and sent the ball down the other end. The visitors skipped out to a handy two =-goal lead with Koenen and Steph Wood combining nicely to find space. Teague-Neeld came up with a huge deflection before Maddy McAuliffe replicated the same thing for the Lighting. It was turnover central for both sides as the ball continued to change hands.

A timeout was called with just over six minutes left to play with the Lightning employing some really patient play in attack. Laura Scherian was proving to be a maestro in wing attack, working the circle with great ease and receiving just about every second pass. Sunshine Coast pushed out to a five-goal margin but with the super shot period in play, Teague-Neeld pegged the margin back for her side. Bruce came to life with a nicely timed intercept as the Fever levelled the scores with less than two minutes on the clock. A quickfire goal from Koenen right on the buzzer gave them the upper hand heading into quarter time.

The intensity was up nice and early for both sides as the two sides went back and forth trading blows. The Lightning continued to find ways to goal with Koenen utilising her footwork and baseline drive to keep Bruce at bay while Stacey Francis-Bayman was struggling to combat the playmaking skills of Wood. Charles started to increase her workload to find Fowler under the post as the Fever plugged away at the scoreboard to stay within striking distance. A breaking call against Wood gifted possession to the Fever and within a matter of moments the Fever were level once again at 25 goals apiece.

The speed from the Lighting started to cause issues in attack but any time they got any form of control the Fever hit back. Francis-Bayman sent the crowd into raptures with a huge intercept while Teague-Neeld slotted a huge super shot to cap off a stellar 30 seconds of play. Sunday Aryang rolled on in goal defence as the Fever put the foot down to create a three-goal lead. But just as you would expect the Lightning came up big in defence with Phumza Maweni and Pretorius combining to get hands to ball and send it into attack.

With scores tied up at half-time the Fever made a couple of changes with Jess Anstiss pushing into centre and forcing Charles into wing attack to replace Emma Cosh. Fever were not the only ones who re-jigged their midcourt with McAuliffe slotting into wing defence and Mahalia Cassidy swinging into centre. Neither side broke stride when in attack, hitting the scoreboard with great ease as Koenen impressed inside the circle as Teague-Neeld paved the way for the Fever given Fowler was double-teamed. Scherian and Koenen were playing with an overwhelming sense of confidence while up the other end Maweni impressed with her aerial commitment. Aryang showed wisdom beyond her years for the Fever following up her deflection to keep West Coast’s noses just in front.

Looking for a way to combat Koenen on the baseline, the Fever pushed Aryang back into goal keeper but it did not faze the shooter. There were super shots aplenty with Wood showcasing her range and accuracy to create a five-goal buffer. Sasha Glasgow entered the fray for the Fever but took a while to work her way into the game as Pretorius made her pay.

Up by six at three quarter time the Lightning continued to play their patient approach in attack to craft the ball into the goal circle as Wood extended the lead to seven. A couple of big defensive wins looked to inspire the Fever but uncharacteristic errors forced them to cough the ball up. The Lightning frontend was humming along nicely establishing a nine-goal lead while defensively the visitors were forcing West Coast to work in overdrive. After a quiet three quarters Bruce came to life as the Fever swindled the margin to six goals but the Lightning kept their cool. Sunshine Coast just played the clock down unfazed by the defensive pressure applied despite some big super shots to ride it home and win.

Koenen was in strong form for the Lightning sinking 44 goals from 48 attempts at 92 per cent accuracy as partner in crime, Wood also showed her class to finish with 16 goals and 17 goal assists. Scherian had speed to burn with her 13 goal assists while defensively Maweni and Pretorius were up to their ball winning ways with a combined six gains and four deflections. Fowler was sensational as usual sitting at 100 per cent thanks to her 44 goals straight while Teague-Neeld managed 10 from 13 plus 16 goal assists. Charles was the one with the hot hand for the Fever amassing 25 goal assists while down back it was the efforts of Bruce that stood out as the captain racked up three intercepts and six deflections.

WEST COAST FEVER 16 | 17 | 14 | 14 (61)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 17 | 16 | 20 | 12 (65)

STARTING SEVEN: 

Fever:

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

Lightning:

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

Photo credit: Paul Kane