THE West Coast Fever have broken NSW Swifts’ hearts and booked themselves a spot in the Major Semi Final after they beat the Swifts 73-72.

It was an entertaining clash that ultimately came down to the dying seconds, but some inaccurate shooting from the Swifts really did cost them.  

Things started very evenly in the opening term.

Both sides traded blows for the first half of the quarter, before the Fever started to gain the upper hand.

The Fever got out to a six-goal lead, and what was not helping the Swifts case was that Helen Housby was a little shaky under the post while Sasha Glasgow and Jhaniele Fowler were on fire up the other end.

Then, once the power five hit, things started to change for both the Swifts and Hosuby.

She found her range and found her range in a big way, as she super shot her way to almost single handily getting her side back in the match. She shot three super shots and managed to halve the margin heading into quarter time.

Not to be outdone, Glasgow kept pace up the other end and turned the power five into a super shot shoot off, shooting two super shots of her own.

At quarter time, the Swifts had brought things back to a three goal lead, but it was still the Fever who led.

Early on in the second quarter, the Fever regained control of the match and stretched the margin back out to as much as seven goals.

Things went from bad to worse in the power five for the Swifts, as the Fever extended their lead out even further. Not only were the Swifts’ shooters missing an unusually high number of goals, but they could not quell the influence of Fowler, who was almost outscoring the Swifts by herself.

The Fever lead got out to as much as ten goals, but had been pegged back to nine as the half time siren went.

The beginning of the third term was all the NSW Swifts.

They came out of the blocks firing and race ahead to a 5-1 opening to the term.

Then, the Fever regained control of the match again and began going about extending their lead back out.

They got it out to as much as 10 goals, before the Swifts got on a resurgence again.

Some sharp super shot shooting from Housby saw the home side get within two of the Fever, but a late goal on the buzzer ensured that the three quarter time margin was three in the Fever’s favour.

It was a very even front half of the final term. The Fever could not build much of a bridge on the Swifts, while the Swifts just could not completely bridge the gap on the Fever.  

The Fever rejigged their defence end, but it continued to go goal for goal until well into the power five period. Then, Housby sunk yet another super shot to bring things back to one and all of a sudden things got a little bit spicier.

Another Housby super shot saw things dead even with about 45 seconds to go, then West Coast got a one point goal to take the lead back.

The Swifts certainly had their chances to take the lead or at the very least the draw, but they missed multiple attempts in the dying seconds, costing them the win.

For the Fever, Fowler had another stellar game, almost outshooting the entire Swifts’ line up for much of the game.  

Outside the circle, Verity Simmons and Alice Teague-Neeld were workhorses through the midcourt.

Meanwhile for the Swifts, Housby finished with a whopping eight super shots, while Maddy Proud finished with 49 feeds and Paige Hadley finished with 45 feeds.

Next week sees both sides at home. The Swifts are hosting the Firebirds while the Fever are hosting the Thunderbirds.

NSW SWIFTS                     17 | 14 | 21 | 20 (72)
WEST COAST FEVER        20 | 20 | 15 | 18 (73)

STARTING SEVENS

NSW Swifts

GS: Helen Housby
GA: Kelly Singleton
WA: Paige Hadley
C: Maddy Proud
WD: Maddy Turner
GD: Sarah Klau
GK: Teigan O’Shannassy

West Coast Fever:

GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Sasha Glasgow
WA: Alice Teague-Neeld
C: Verity Simmons
WD: Stacey Francis-Bayman
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce