WEST Coast Fever overcame the last remaining side in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) on Sunday afternoon, completing a clean sweep of each team with a 10-goal victory over Queensland Firebirds, 79-69. While the Firebirds certainly took it to the Fever at times throughout the intense clash – which also marked defender Kim Jenner‘s 50th game milestone – the away side was relentless and showcased their hunt for the ball in an excellent four-quarter effort.

It was a hard start from both side, with neither letting the opposition get first hands to the ball. Kim Ravaillion got the Firebirds started with blistering pace and plenty of confidence to Romelda Aiken, while at the other end Sasha Glasgow showed no signs of pressure as she comfortably held her own against the ever tenacious Jenner. But with Glasgow holding ground well it made the going tougher for Tara Hinchliffe on Jhaniele Fowler, as the Jamaican made the most of the one-on-one defence to receive ball after loping ball from Verity Charles. Neither side was afraid of contesting the loose ball, with errant passes quickly hunted down and gobbled up, while confidence from super shot range steadily applied pressure on the scoreboard. The Firebirds trailed by two at the first break, 17-19, with a buzzer beater from Fowler getting the job done to push the side ahead.

As the second term arrived, so did the Firebirds as Aiken and Gretel Bueta put on a show, piling on seven straight goals to steal the lead and extend a five-goal margin. But Courtney Bruce got herself involved too, building off the Firebirds’ confidence and determined to knock them down a peg, mopping up the scraps on a number of occasions and using her excellent vision to arrive first to the Aiken ball time and time again. Flair from the Firebirds was expected and set the court alight as Aiken and Bueta did everything in their power to confuse the space for Bruce and young gun Sunday Aryang, losing their great lead and staying ahead throughout the term by a few goals here and there as their own defensive effort paid off. The change was made out the front from the away side as clever ball-mover Alice Teague-Neeld was injected into the contest, sharing the feeding load with Verity Charles who, despite an excellent first quarter, was held well by Gabi Simpson in the second, and paid off almost immediately as the Fever stole away momentum once more. The workrate of Jess Anstiss was immense going toe-to-toe with Ravaillion as the two defensive-minded centres effectively cancelled each other out, with steadiness from the Fever to post paying off in comparison to the Firebirds’ flurry of super shot attempts to stay in touch. It was the Fever that extended their two-goal lead to four at the main change, with a couple of momentum swings speaking heavily of the contest ahead as the second half rolled around.

A huge second half opened up with goal for goal action before the Fever were able to add three more to their tally and force the Firebirds to really challenge for that loose ball. Clean hands and contests continued though with both teams find their way to turnover ball, while Charles and Teague-Neeld’s ability to sight Fowler proved tough to combat for Jenner and Hinchliffe who did everything in their power to force errors from the goal shooter, to no avail. Despite signs pointing the other way, the long ball to Fowler continued to do the trick with the defensive effort of Simpson making life hard for Charles to find the circle – but allowing the wing attack to wreak havoc from miles up the court in the process with her ability to thread the needle. Tippah Dwan took the court in goal attack to add a different element to the Firebirds front-end but the workrate from Aryang made it hard for the goaler to really work her way into the contest, missing a couple of late super shots as the Firebirds trailed by five heading in to a huge final quarter.

The high-scoring third term was backed up by the final quarter, as the Fever really kicked up a gear. Each Firebirds attempt was bookended by multiple Fever bursts as the away side’s defensive effort continued to fire, while the home side floundered with their loud home crowd silenced. Hinchliffe was swapped out for the added height of Rudi Ellis but it was too little, too late as the Fever ground out a comfortable 10-goal victory, with their consistency throughout the contest paying off in spades.

For the winning side, Fowler was immense as ever with 62 goals from 64 attempts at 97 per cent accuracy, while Glasgow shot five straight (three super shots) and Teague-Neeld added another six (three super shots) to their tally. Teague-Neeld also piled on 21 goal assists, to go with Charles’ 25 and Anstiss’ 18 and two intercepts. Bruce amassed a whopping 12 gains (five intercepts, three deflections, four rebounds) while Stacey Francis-Bayman, Aryang and Fowler all picked up an intercept apiece. For the Firebirds, Aiken piled on 40 straight as well as one super shot from three attempts, while Bueta was lower in accuracy than usual due to attempts on the super shot, coming in at an overall 65 per cent with 17 from 26 (three super shots from nine). Dwan similarly struggled from range, hitting the mark three times from six attempts. Ravaillion led the feeding charge with 19 assists with Jemma Mi Mi (12) and Bueta (10) next in line, while the defensive unit was well and truly kept quiet not managing a single gain throughout the 60 minutes.

QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 17 | 16 | 20 | 16 (69)
WEST COAST FEVER 19 | 18 | 21 | 21 (79)

STARTING SEVEN:

Firebirds

GS: Romelda Aiken
GA: Gretel Bueta
WA: Jemma Mi Mi
C: Kim Ravaillion
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Tara Hinchliffe

Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler 
GA: Sasha Glasgow
WA: Verity Charles
C: Jess Anstiss
WD: Stacey Francis-Bayman
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce

Picture credit: West Coast Fever