THE West Coast Fever have created some history tonight, defeating the Melbourne Vixens by 11 goals, 70-59 to win their first Super Netball title.
Thanks to some stellar performances from MVP Sasha Glasgow (four Super Shots, 26 goal assists and 28 feeds), Jhaniele Fowler (58 goals from 59 attempts), Alice Teague-Neeld (34 feeds and 16 goal assists), Verity Simmons (34 feeds and 17 goal assists) and Courtney Bruce (seven deflections and six rebounds), not only have the Fever won their first Super Netball title, but the first national level title ever for a team from Western Australia.
Not a whole lot went right for the Vixens as the Fever just dominated all game. Also, just like back in the semi final, penalties were the Achilles’ heal of the Vixens, with the visitors finishing with a whopping 78 penalties.
Both teams traded blows, but the Fever capitalised from a few Vixens errors early to take the first lead. Melbourne grew into the game as the quarter went on, but Sasha Glasgow and her Super Shot shooting ensured the Fever kept their lead. However, Kiera Austin responded in kind to ensure that the Vixens remained in contention.
The Vixens made a few more errors late which the Fever pounced on straight away, so at quarter time the hosts held a four goal lead. Bruce was on fire early, recording four deflections in the first quarter alone.
Proceedings went goal for goal again to start the second term, but the Vixens slowly chipped away at the lead. However, although the Vixens got the lead down to a mere single goal, the Fever restored their lead back out again. The Vixens brought the lead back, but then the Fever regained control and pushed the lead out to the biggest margin of the game thus far. At half-time, the Fever held a six-goal lead, but it certainly felt like it was much larger due to the Fever dominance.
The Fever continued to dominate proceedings in the third term, and the RAC Arena crowd were no doubt starting to get excited about the history they were potentially about to witness. On the flip side, things really didn’t go the Vixens way in the third term as a number of crucial calls did not go their way.
As the teams turned for home the margin sat at nine in the Fever’s favour, and they were certainly marching towards a history making title. Both teams started to utilise the longer passes to feed into the circle in the last term, but it did not change the momentum of the game.
WEST COAST FEVER 18 | 17 | 19 | 16 (70)
MELBOURNE VIXENS 14 | 15 | 16 | 14 (59)
STARTING SEVENS:
West Coast Fever:
GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Sasha Glasgow
WA: Alice Teague-Neeld
C: Verity Simmons
WD: Jess Anstiss
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce
Melbourne Vixens:
GS: Mwai Kumwenda
GA: Kiera Austin
WA: Liz Watson
C: Kate Moloney
WD: Kate Eddy
GD: Jo Weston
GK: Emily Mannix
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