COMING off a demolition victory last round, the West Coast Fever were intent on inflicting the same pain on the up and coming Queensland Firebirds to claim their first ever win over the Queensland based side (71-60). They led from the opening quarter right through to the end as they were clinical in attack however the win was marred by a knee injury to speedster Ingrid Colyer.

With speed to burn through the centre of the court and towering shooters at either end, both sides quickly made their way onto the scoreboard through the hands of Jhaniele Fowler and Romelda Aiken. But a turnover from the Fever and subsequent pick up from Kim Jenner enabled the Firebirds to pile on the early offensive pressure. After somewhat of a quiet performance last round, wing defence and captain Gabi Simpson immediately injected herself into the game with a strong first ball contest on Colyer to win possession for her side. The Firebirds opened up a handy two-goal buffer but Colyer worked in overdrive through the midcourt to take a huge intercept and propel the ball back down court to even the score.

There was no easy passage of play down the court for either side with Jenner and Tara Hinchliffe applying a wealth of physical pressure on Fowler under the post to make life hard for the Fever. The game continued that goal for goal pattern with neither side able to gain any sort of separation before things started to kick into gear for the Fever as they established a three-goal buffer. Courtney Bruce lifted her intensity in the defensive circle, showcasing her impressive leap and read of the play to swat the ball away from Aiken. West Coast pushed out to six goals after shutting down the movement in the frontend for the Firebirds.

Aiken looked to eat into the margin within the first 30 seconds but the Fever answered the call moments later. It was an intercepting masterclass with Simpson streaming through the midcourt to pick up possession while Bruce came out hunting to stop the home side in their tracks. Much like the first quarter it was goal for goal as Fowler and Aiken did the heavy lifting for their respective sides. A wayward pass in the Firebirds attack end allowed the Fever to capitalise and extend to a game high seven goals before the Firebirds pegged the lead back, albeit narrowly. With the centre pass to follow the Queensland based side struggled to push through the Fever’s defence with Jess Anstiss and Stacey Francis putting up a wall in defence and not allowing the likes of Tippah Dwan and Jemma Mi Mi to get into the action.

Out to nine goals the Fever were humming in both defence and attack as Verity Charles starred through the centre court. Looking for answers in attack Macy Gardner made her way into the wing attack position but the Firebirds simply did not have any answers for the Fever. West Coast continued to tick over the scoreboard holding a solid 11-goal lead while the introduction of Rudi Ellis seemed to work momentarily with the extra centimetres worrying the Fever feeders. The Firebirds started to rally cutting the margin to eight goals to give them a glimmer of hope but the high release in to the goal circle for the Fever was working wonders while a timely super shot seemed to be the answer the Queensland side needed heading into the break.

Mahalia Cassidy continued her hot form to start the third with the centre finding Aiken with great ease under the post. The full court pressure from the Fever was immense as they looked to capitalise on every opportunity that came their way and regain their 10-goal lead. a timeout with just over nine minutes left on the clock saw the Firebirds come out with plenty of intensity winning ball off the Fever’s centre pass as they looked to reduce the margin as Aiken showcased some magic to sink a goal while falling out of court. But an ill-disciplined couple of plays from the Firebirds gifted the Fever possession.

The midcourt combo of Charles and Colyer was undeniable with the two using their speed to slice apart the Firebirds. Although Alice Teague-Neeld did not hit the scoreboard her efforts in attack did not go unnoticed with her hot hand setting up a wealth of plays. Devastation struck with less than five minutes left in the term as Colyer went down grabbing her knee and forcing the Fever to bring on Emma Cosh in wing attack. With the Fever taking some time to adjust the Firebirds struck with Ine-Mari Venter entering the court and nailing consecutive super shots while Simpson injected some excitement to little avail.

Holding a 13-goal lead the Fever put the foot down in the final term as the Firebirds wrestled with trying to limit the influence of Fowler in the goal circle. Aiken seemed to have the yips but whatever shots she did miss, she managed to secure the rebound. Lacking their usual dynamism in attack Lara Dunkley came on in wing attack and used her strength to claim prime position around circle edge but the Fever were unfazed by the changes as they motored to a comfortable win.

It was a battle of the Jamaican shooters as Aiken starred up one end for the Firebirds sinking 45 goals for the game while Fowler steered the ship for the Fever with a staggering 63 goals from 65 attempts at 97 per cent accuracy. The output from the goal attacks was down for both sides with Dwan managing seven goals, four of which were super shots, while Teague-Neeld racked up the goal assists finishing the game on 25. Down back the defenders were on fire for their respective teams as Bruce amassed nine gains, six of which were intercepts along with four deflections and two rebounds. The Firebirds defenders failed to have their usual intercept however Simpson stood up collecting two intercepts and three deflections.

>>> FIREBIRDS TEAM PAGE
>>> FEVER TEAM PAGE
>>> FULL MATCH STATS

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Queensland Firebirds 13 | 16 | 13 | 18 (60)
West Coast Fever 19 | 17 | 19 | 16 (71) 

STARTING SEVEN:

Queensland Firebirds:

GS: Romelda Aiken
GA: Tippah Dwan
WA: Jemma Mi Mi
C: Mahalia Cassidy
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Tara Hinchliffe

West Coast Fever:

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