QUEENSLAND Firebirds have won the Queensland derby and were able to right the wrongs of Round 1, defeating cross state rivals Sunshine Coast Lightning by 28 goals.

The Lightning were dealt a huge blow pre match when captain Steph Wood was ruled out due to Covid. She was replaced in the side by Lightning training partner Annabelle Lawrie.

It was the Lightning who got the first goal from an opposition centre pass, but the Firebirds cancelled it out soon enough. The Lightning then got their lead back minutes later after some great defensive intercept work.

After a stellar intercept and super shot from Donnell Wallam, the Firebirds then levelled the scores again with only about two minutes to go in the term. The Firebirds took the lead late and led by one at quarter time.

The Lightning were a much better side in the opening term than what they gave us in the opening round. It was an aggressive opening term from both sides and it continued into the second term.

The Firebirds continued to grow their lead in the opening minutes of the second term, and as the quarter dragged on, things started to get away from the Lightning. The margin blew out to seven goals midway through the term, with the Firebirds looking the much better side.

Things started to go downhill for the Lightning in the back end of the second term. Not only did they stop scoring, but their defensive pressure dropped right off too. At half time the margin had really ballooned out to 14 goals.

One Firebird that was particularly on fire in the first half was Ruby Bakewell-Doran, whose intercept work and defensive pressure was particularly impressive. One shining light for the Lightning in the first half was Kadie-Ann Dehaney. After an awful game last weekend, her intercepts in particular the first half were really impressive.

After making a lot of changes at half-time did not work for either side in Round 1, both sides made no changes at the main break. It was goal for goal action for much of the early parts of the third term, so the Lightning just struggled to bring the gap down by any more than two goals.

Up the other end the Firebirds were able to extend their lead even further, and as the teams turned for home, the margin was 20 goals in favour of Queensland. The Lightning rung the changes at the final break, in the hope to turn things around and bridge the gap between the sides.

The Firebirds continued on their merry way in the last term, and just continued to grow their lead even more. It was just an all-round much better performance from the Firebirds, who would ultimately go on to get their first win of the season.

Queensland was the more accurate team across the match, and the Lightning were certainly missing the Super Shot capabilities of Wood. The Firebirds shot at 91 per cent, and only missed seven shots for the match, while the Lightning only shot at 87 per cent.

A more stark difference came in the Super Shot percentage. The Lightning only converted three of their 12 super shot attempts, while the Firebirds only missed four of their 10 attempts.

This win sees next weekend’s clash between the Firebirds and Fever turn into a mouth watering clash.

Meanwhile for the Lightning, they are on the road to Adelaide next weekend to face the Thunderbirds.

SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 17 | 9 | 13 | 15 (54)
QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 18 | 22 | 19 | 23 (82)

STARTING SEVENS:

Sunshine Coast Lightning

GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney
GD: Tara Hinchliffe
WD: Kate Shimmin
C: Mahalia Cassidy
WA: Laura Scherian
GA: Reilley Batcheldor
GS: Cara Koenen

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