QUEENSLAND Firebirds have kept their season and finals hopes live with a huge 10-goal win over Sunshine Coast Lightning to finish off Suncorp Super Netball Round 11, claiming a 59-49 victory and not relenting throughout a highly physical matchup. While the Firebirds were notably without key defender Tara Hinchliff and impact goaler Tippah Dwan, the side rallied in their absence to shake up the competition.

it was Gretel Bueta who drew first blood before Cara Koenen piled three straight goals on, with both sides providing plenty of dash and dare in both the front and back-ends early as pressurised defence from the midcourts made it a tough battle through the centre. Romelda Aiken had the early yips credit to the long arms of Phumza Maweni, missing a couple of chances but gobbling up her own rebounds while Steph Wood was forced off the court within the opening minutes after a fall stuck her on the sidelines and Peace Proscovia holding ground in goal shooter. Elsewhere, Laura Scherian was firing early, piling on the offensive pressure with her smooth feeds into the goal circle, while Firebirds centre Kim Ravaillion was front and centre with her defensive nous through the centre third paying off as she snatched an intercept. A couple of late – but justifiable – challenges from Rudi Ellis ensured the Firebirds goal keeper would be eyed off throughout the contest as she relished the extra court-time in Hinchliffe’s absence. But that did not seem to be an issue for the Lightning who held onto a lead for majority of the opening term, with Koenen sinking a super shot to finish the first on a high and claim an early two-goal lead (16-14).

Gabi Simpson fired up as the second quarter got going, making her intents clear as she snatched a critical intercept early to spur her side into action. But every time the Firebirds looked like they had a chance to pull away, the Lightning ensured it did not happen as they put their full-court athleticism to good use with Maddy McAuliffe and Mahalia Cassidy working hard to negate the workrate of Ravaillion and Lara Dunkley. While the Firebirds got showy, especially in the front-end, the Lightning ticked away at the scoreboard. Wood returned to the court out in wing attack, firing pinpoint passes into the circle, but defensively the firepower did not appear to be there as Aiken and Bueta gained confidence and appeared to lap the defensive pursuits of Maweni and Karla Pretorius. Accuracy was no issue for either team as Koenen worked in overdrive to defy Kim Jenner, with a couple late goals from Aiken sealing the deal as the two sides sat on 28 goals apiece at half-time.

A hug second half was set with both sides contesting hard and unwilling to give up the fight, but while it was Koenen who once again started off proceedings to post as the two teams went goal for goal, it was the Firebirds that managed a seven-goal run, credit to defensive pressure forcing a Proscovia miss. But a six-goal buffer did not seem to worry the Lightning too much as the physicality continued, with the combination of Maweni and Pretorius pulling off another excellent defensive get to ensure the Lightning piled some scoreboard pressure back on again. The Firebirds continued to do anything physically possible to win ball back as the Lightning threw up the bibs, with Kate Shimmin taking the court in wing defence for some fresh hands over pressure and Scherian moved to the bench for the remainder of the match. A couple of Bueta super shot attempts went astray, and a Proscovia super shot miss on the three-quarter time siren ensured the Firebirds headed into the last with a two goal buffer, leading 43-41.

A huge final term opened up as neither side relented, with the Firebirds piling on seven of the first 10 goals of the quarter to take a seven-goal lead. Defensively, the Firebirds fired up with Jenner in particular working her way into the game with a couple of gains, as Ravaillion continued to work in overdrive. An Aiken ankle roll could have turned the tides but the goal shooter remained on court, easing her way back into the contest as the Firebirds pulled out to  nine-goal lead. Misses started to pile up for the usually accurate Lightning goalers and it was a game of risk versus reward for Lightning as they turned to the super shot, but consecutive misses handed the Firebirds a 12-goal buffer with less than two minutes on the clock. Two more goals went the way of the Lightning as Pretorius stepped up defensively to finish things off, going down by 10 goals with their shaky 16-8 last quarter pulling the pin on what had been a tight game.

Despite registering eight misses, it was Aiken who led the charge with 40 goals at 83 per cent, as Bueta ticked along nicely with 18 goals from 20 attempts and 12 goal assists. Ravaillion (17 assists, two intercepts) was a livewire, while Simpson registered one goal assist from wing defence to go with her intercept and four pickups. Jenner and Ellis impressed combining for 10 deflections. For the Lightning, Koenen (31 from 36) and Proscovia (17 from 22) worked in overdrive while Scherian led the assists chart for the side with 10 despite only playing 28 minutes, with McAuliffe and Cassidy working hard to make up the lost offensive workrate with Wood also only playing 11 minutes total. McAuliffe (two intercepts) impressed defensively, as Pretorius (two intercepts, both in the final term) and Maweni (two gains) were tested all night.

QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 (59)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING | 16 | 12 | 13 | 8 (49)

STARTING SEVENS

Firebirds

GS: Romelda Aiken
GA: Gretel Bueta
WA: Lara Dunkley
C: Kim Ravaillion
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Rudi Ellis

Lightning

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

Picture credit: Jono Searle/Getty Images