NSW Swifts have pinched an epic win over the West Coast Fever, winning by one goal with dying second goal.  In what must be feeling like deja vu for those in green, it was tight for much of the match but the Swifts grabbed the 65-64 win at the very last possible opportunity. 

With both teams fielding different looking starting sides, it was a tight affair early before some strong defensive work from the Swifts saw them score a goal off the Fever’s centre pass. They then converted the next centre pass to take the early lead.  It went goal for goal after that for much of the quarter as the Swifts maintained their small lead. 

Although the Fever did manage to keep the scoreboard ticking over, the Swifts certainly did not make it easy for them with some strong defensive work. But thanks to a Super Shot from Emma Cosh, the Fever managed to draw level. However the Swifts went on a run late to take a three-goal lead into the first change. 

The Swifts maintained their lead early in the second term, but it was still a tight game. They got out to as much as five goals in the front half of the quarter, but then Fever coached Dan Ryan changed things up and saw results straight away as the Fever began to eat away at the deficit. 

Another Super Shot from Cosh saw the game draw level early in the Power Five, but it started to get more feisty as things got more tense. Ultimately it was a two goal lead at the main break for the Swifts, but it felt like it really could go either way. 

The Fever mixed the on-court seven up again in the third term – including bringing on fan favourite Nat Butler (nee Medhurst) – and the Fever did not take long to level proceedings back up again and take the lead. 

The Fever really established a solid lead as the halfway point of the quarter approached, with the lead up to as much as five goals. The Fever kept growing their lead, and it was out to six goals at the beginning of the Power Five.  However Helen Housby had other ideas and her first Super Shot of the term began a run for the Swifts. 

A Super Shot of her own from Butler briefly stopped the run, but Housby was back at it soon after. A strong Power Five from the Swifts saw the margin back at a mere one goal in favour of the Fever at the final change.

The quarter began tight, but in a blink the Fever quickly skipped out to a three-goal lead. The Fever built an even bigger lead, which got out to as much as five goals, but the Swifts kept building and as the Power Five began the margin was down to two goals.

Housby was still on fire from Super Shot range, and all of a sudden the margin was down to one. The Fever then skipped out to a four-goal lead, but Housby then slotted yet another Super Shot to drop the margin back to two in one swoop. 

With 30 seconds to go, the scores were level and the final result could have gone either way. With a mere two seconds on the clock, Romelda Aiken slotted the sealer to see Fever hearts break on the siren yet again. 

For the Swifts Housby successfully shot a whopping 10 Super Shots, while Paige Hadley (30 feeds, 16 assists, one deflection) had a solid game in midcourt. 

Meanwhile for the Fever, Jhaniele Fowler (53 goals from 55 attempts) had another solid game in attack, while Alice Teague-Neeld (33 feeds, 18 assists) had another solid game in midcourt.

WEST COAST FEVER 16 | 14 | 19 | 15 (64)
NSW SWIFTS 19 | 13 | 16 | 17 (65)

STARTING SEVENS

West Coast Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Emma Cosh
WA: Alice Teague-Neeld
C: Verity Simmons
WD: Sunday Aryang
GD: Kim Jenner
GK: Courtney Bruce

NSW Swifts

GS: Romelda Aiken-George
GA: Helen Housby
WA: Paige Hadley
C: Maddy Proud
WD: Maddy Turner
GD: Sarah Klau
GK: Teigan O’Shannassy