AN impressive effort from the Queensland Firebirds saw them bring home their first victory of the 2020 season and defeat West Coast Fever 68 goals to 57. After a tough start to this year’s campaign, the Firebirds have been building over recent weeks and will be proud of the four-quarter performance they put out against a quality side like West Coast. The Fever were unable to halt the momentum of the Queensland side and a poor second quarter ultimately cost them the game.

The opening few minutes were an arm wrestle as both teams tried to gain an early advantage. The youngster Sunday Aryang was given the start at goal defence, credit to the huge impact she has had in previous games so far this season. She was teamed up with Courtney Bruce, returning from a recent back injury, and the pair settled in early and piled on the pressure to give Fever a five-goal lead in the opening few minutes. The Fever made good use of their ability to score quickly through Jhaniele Fowler in order to take control of the game. It was a bit of a quiet start from the Firebirds, and Tara Hinchliffe and Kim Jenner were struggling to hold up the Fever attacking end.

A couple of soft turnovers from the Fever seemed to give the Firebirds the spark they needed, and they went on a three-goal run credit to the work rate of Jemma Mi Mi and Mahalia Cassidy powering through the midcourt. During the timeout, both coaches focussed heavily on their defensive units and strategies to nullify the opposition. Tactically both teams attacking units looked to put in a high ball to their respective holding shooters, meaning defensively the aim was simple, shut down the goal shooter. The Firebirds moved into another gear in terms of their hands over ball pressure and pulled the score back to 12-10, with the Fever leading by just two goals. 

A massive effort from Bruce was putting a lot of pressure onto Romelda Aiken, but she was up to the challenge. Despite the tussle and physicality from Bruce, Aiken seemed fired up and Tippah Dwan was finding her nicely under the post. In the midcourt, Jess Anstiss was working hard against the speed of Cassidy, and helping to slow down the Firebirds transition play. This paid dividends and some misfeeds from the Firebirds attack line caused the final few minutes of the first quarter to become somewhat scrappy. The Fever managed to hold on and went into the first break leading by 16 goals to 14. It was shaping up to be a very defence heavy encounter, with both teams using hard one-on-one pressure to force long balls for the goal keepers to go out hunting. Gabi Simpson had a fairly quiet opening term coming up against Verity Charles, and the Fever were finding easy access to the post from circle edge.

The Firebirds came out for the second quarter with intensity and were rewarded by a misfeed from the Fever attack end followed minutes later by a missed shot, allowing them to quickly pull into the lead. Dwan brought herself into the game in a big way and was definitely winning the battle of the goal attacks out on court. Alice Teague-Neeld was being very well covered by the work of Jenner and was not able to find good shooting position to support Fowler. As the Firebirds gained momentum, their confidence in their structures allowed them to really grind it out in defence and find rhythm and flow in the attack. Emma Cosh replaced Teague-Neeld in the goal attack position for Fever but she ran into the same issues with Jenner all over her. The Firebirds extended their lead to seven and seemed ruthless in their desire to push the scoreline out. They were dominating the quarter and Fever, in contrast, looked flat, searching for answers.

Bruce was doing everything possible to get her side back in the contest, but without the through court defensive pressure it was difficult to stop the Firebirds. A switch up for the West Coast team saw Kaylia Stanton take the court in goal attack and Shannon Eagland replace Stacey Francis at wing defence. These changes did not faze the Firebirds who used the super shot period to extend to a nine-goal lead. Things started to fall apart further for the Fever who had lost fluidity in the attack end and were not able to convert their opportunities. The Firebirds went into half time with a healthy eight-goal lead, after winning the second quarter 19 goals to 9. 

Fever shuffled the pack again in the third quarter to try and find the defensive combination which could win them back possession and stop the tenacious Firebirds. Stacey Marinkovich settled on Bruce out hunting at goal defence, whose efforts brought the side back to within five. However, the Firebirds did not panic and were patient with possession, often working the ball around several times to find good access to the post. Aiken was a standout in the third quarter, nailing her first super shot of the season, and her strength under the ring and ability to change up the attack end for the Firebirds allowed them to maintain their lead. Her partnership with Dwan continued to improve as they worked seamlessly to provide multiple options for Mi Mi and Cassidy on the circle edge. Late in the third quarter, the Firebirds were still very much in control. They had effectively forced Fever to make several lineup changes across the court by sticking to their game plan and playing with the confidence that they could win. The Queensland side went into the final term with a lead of 50 goals to the Fever’s 43.

The final quarter saw the Firebirds put their foot down even further. Hinchliffe continued to be the unsung hero of her side. Her pressure was limiting the impact of Fowler and not allowing her to dominate the circle as she typically would. At the other end of the court, Dwan was having a day out, finding so much space on the baseline and carving up the circle with strong drives. She even picked up a deflection and the Firebirds found themselves up by 11 goals with the finish line in sight. They were looking slick and well-organised in attack, and all seven players were stepping up in defence. In contrast, the Fever had been inconsistent on this occasion, and a couple of patches of errors had kept them out of the game. They had npt been able to settle on a consistent lineup, whereas the Firebirds had kept the same core players on court throughout who built into the game. A flurry of super shots at the end of the quarter meant the Firebirds came away with a massive 11 goal win. 

The Fever managed to pick up six intercepts to the Firebirds’ two, however, the Queensland side dominated the rebounds claiming 15 to three. Mi Mi and Cassidy excelled in this round, sharing the load with 34 and 36 feeds respectively. It was a game with high turnovers, and interestingly both sides earned the same number of points from their super shot attempts. The goal attack position was an area of concern for the Fever in this game, with Teague-Neald shooting one from five, and Stanton shooting three from seven. In contrast, Dwan put up 20 goals at 83 per cent. Fever were unlucky to come up against a Firebirds outfit that has been building in potential in recent weeks and was determined to take home the win. Next the Fever will hope to put out a strong performance and redeem themselves against the Magpies, and the Firebirds will seek to claim their second win of the season against the GIANTS. 

>>> FIREBIRDS TEAM PAGE
>>> FEVER TEAM PAGE 
>>> FULL GAME STATS

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Queensland Firebirds 14 | 19 | 17 | 18 (68)
West Coast Fever 16 | 9 | 18 | 14 (57)

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: Verity Charles
C: Jess Anstiss
WD: Stacey Francis
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce