Firebirds stand tall over under strength GIANTS
THE Queensland Firebirds bounced back from a tough loss on the weekend in emphatic style, defeating a slightly understrength GIANTS Netball by 13 goals.
The first quarter saw swaying momentums, and quite a lot of silly mistakes from both sides as a number of players got penalised for footwork and for breaking.
The Firebirds did have momentum, control and the lead for much of the term, before the GIANTS clawed their way back and took the lead on the eve of the power five.
But thanks to a super shot from Donnell Wallam, it was the Firebirds who held the two goal lead at the first change.
Someone who was really impressive in the first term was Amy Parmenter, who at wing defence was on song with her intercepts.
The start of the second term felt like an even contest, but the Firebirds did extend their lead out to as much as six goals.
The GIANTS clawed it back a little in the power five but could not fully reel it in.
The margin at the main break was four goals in favour of the Firebirds.
With a few players feeling ill, the GIANTS were forced to make a few changes at the main break with the hope that things would turn around for them.
They did not.
With fatigue in the GIANTS players starting to set in, the Firebirds capitalise and extended their lead back out to as high as nine goals.
They extended it even further as the quarter dragged on, and as the teams turned for home the margin was out to 12 goals.
It was goal for goal for much of the last term, but the Firebirds extended their lead to 15 goals.
The GIANTS reeled it in sightly in the back end of the innings but the damage had already been done in the third term so the GIANTS were in no shot of reeling things back in.
A stark visual representation of the GIANTS’ woes during the match was Sophie Dwyer, whose shooting percentage was significantly lower then usual and she really struggled to get into the game.
She shot only 18 regular goals from 22 attempts, and she missed seven of her eight super shot attempts
Meanwhile for the Firebirds, it was a good all-round team performance, with good contributions from all who stepped out on court.
Both teams are at home next round, which is this coming weekend. The Firebirds are hosting Adelaide on Sunday afternoon, while the GIANTS are hosting the Magpies on Saturday night.
GIANTS NETBALL 13 | 18 | 10 | 18 (59)
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 15 | 20 | 18 | 19 (72)
STARTING SEVENS:
GIANTS Netball
GK: Tilly McDonnell
GD: April Brandley
WD: Amy Parmenter
C: Jaime-Lee Price
WA: Maddie Hay
GA: Sophie Dwyer
GS: Jo Harten
Queensland Firebirds
GK: Eboni Usoro-Brown
GD: Ruby Bakewell-Doran
WD: Gabi Simpson
C: Kim Ravaillion
WA: Lara Dunkley
GA: Gretel Bueta
GS: Donnell Wallam
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