A HUGE second Battle of the Birds saw the Adelaide Thunderbirds host the Queensland Firebirds with the two teams sitting toward the bottom half of the ladder but technically within touching distance of the top four. The Firebirds were hot from the starting whistle and did not stop despite the continuously mounting pressure, running away with a 61-59 win.

The Firebirds started very strong defensively, forcing a couple of early turnovers from the Thunderbirds with the midcourt attack unit of Lara Dunkley and Tippah Dwan blocking vision as the likes of Mahalia Cassidy and Gabi Simpson denied easy drives up the court. An early six goal run from the Firebirds saw the Thunderbirds call an early tactical timeout, with Maisie Nankivell making every effort defensively to disrupt the circle flow. The Jamaican matchup between Romelda Aiken and Shamera Sterling was huge, with Aiken seeming to have a lot of the early control before an offensive contact allowed the Thunderbirds to convert off a much-needed turnover. Plenty of patience was taken by the Firebirds early in attack, chipping the ball around and making the most of Aiken’s control in the circle. The attack was confident, seeing Dwan collect a magnificent intercept up high on the defensive transverse line, and the Thunderbirds were seemingly left reeling by the Firebirds’ fast start. 

Lenize Potgieter was not as efficient with ball in hand as usual, racking up turnovers early, unable to assert herself on the contest with the heavy defence of Tara Hinchliffe and Kim Jenner. It was a huge start from Dunkley, as the midcourter went out hunting and running laps around Nankivell forcing the wing defence further up the court. A good start from the Firebirds saw three straight goals to the away side to start the second, with the Thunderbirds unable to disrupt the flow and confidence of the Firebirds. While a lot of the attack unit had starred early for the Firebirds, Jenner got involved and helped the Firebirds extend to an 11-goal margin just five minutes into the second. 

A great intercept from Layla Guscoth aided the Thunderbirds in taking a few little wins, chipping away at the margin but they needed a couple more clean turnover ball gets first. Despite efforts from Shadine van der Merwe and Sterling, the Thunderbirds just could not take possession of their deflections, allowing the Firebirds to win ball back with ease. Hasty movement from the Thunderbirds but hesitance on the assist was what was letting the home side down, with precision perfect passes by the Firebirds and extensive hands over pressure reducing easy options into the circle. Nankivell did not stop out in wing attack, constantly driving hard toward the ball, with the movement paying off as Potgieter put a super shot on the board. Errors continued to plague the Thunderbirds though, and while the Thunderbirds found pockets of the form they needed to pull back the lead it was not enough with the margin remaining at 10 goals. A couple super shots from Georgie Horjus allowed the Thunderbirds to draw back, although Dwan was not to be outdone as the Firebirds put one back on the board. A super shot shootout saw the Firebirds come out worse off but still with a convincing seven-goal lead, dominating much of the contest. 

The second half started with both teams coming out strong once more, both putting quick goals on the board and Sterling plucking a great ball out of the air to transition down the court and put up a goal courtesy of Potgieter. Much better movement down the court from the T’birds did not pay off, with stagnant attack forcing a held ball from Hannah Petty who did everything she could to win back the ball down the other end. Horjus injected herself much better this quarter, finding a bit more ball inside the circle and using her movement to zip around the circle with Potgieter often being double defended. 

The physical matchups down the court stepped up a notch, seeing bodies flying as the defensive pressure lifted across the court. The home crowd got involved as the Thunderbirds put five straight on the board to reduce the margin to five and the super shot period began. Horjus was quick to punish with a super shot on the board, and soon enough reduced the margin to two. While Horjus switched on in offence, opposition goal attack Dwan was hunting through the centre third, relentless in her pursuit for the loose ball. Soon enough the Firebirds made the change, with Macy Gardner hitting the court in centre to inject fresh legs and speed, settling the lineup well to stop the Thunderbirds in their tracks. The Firebirds only just had their noses in front by four as the quarter ended, with all the momentum swinging the way of the Thunderbirds.

A huge final quarter began with a Firebirds centre pass, with Aiken putting the first shot up and an offside from Petty allowing the away side to convert another shot to maintain control. Guscoth headed out to wing defence to take on Dunkley, forcing the wing attack wide while Kate Shimmin entered into wing defence to put hands over pressure on Dwan’s shot. The Firebirds still maintained control though, with a six goal buffer allowing a bit of breathing room as the tight contest continued. While Hinchliffe was working hard to negate Potgieter’s movement, she drew a lot of whistle as she did so which allowed some simple goals on the board for the Thunderbirds. 

With the Firebirds defence getting clumsy, the Thunderbirds attack needed to take advantage and so they did as the margin was reduced to four with just over five minutes on the clock. Both sides were looking for the super shot and neither were able to command space in the two-point zone, with tight defence from both sides forcing single shots on the board. But Potgieter proved she was willing to start them off, putting a super shot on the board while the time trickled down and a single goal margin the way of the Firebirds. Sure enough, the Firebirds were able to maintain control for the last 30 seconds to put one last goal on the board and reign supreme for a 61-59 win.

Aiken was huge with 45 goals at 87 per cent accuracy, aided by Dwan with 15 goals (one super shot) who also collected three intercepts, while Cassidy led the way for assists with 22. Simpson also collected three intercepts while Hinchliffe and Jenner combined for five gains. For the Thunderbirds, Potgieter impressed with 33 goals (two super shots) and Horjus stepped up when the side needed her most, shooting 17 goals of which seven were super shots. Nankivell led the assists tally with 22 and two gains, while Sterling was the only player to manage more than one intercept, coming away with two and four rebounds, with none of her 10 deflections resulting in gains.

>>>THUNDERBIRDS TEAM PAGE
>>>FIREBIRDS TEAM PAGE
>>>FULL MATCH STATS

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ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS 11 | 17 | 14 | 17 (59)
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 17 | 18 | 11 | 15 (61)

Thunderbirds

GS: Lenize Potgieter
GA: Georgie Horjus
WA: Chelsea Pitman
C: Hannah Petty
WD: Maisie Nankivell
GD: Layla Guscoth
GK: Shamera Sterling

Firebirds

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