AFTER getting a full strength side back, Collingwood Magpies have caused one of the upsets of the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) season thus far, beating the Queensland Firebirds 67-59.

Both sides traded blows early on, with both teams going goal for goal for much of the opening five minutes of the first term. Then Collingwood strung a few goals together and started to build a nice little lead for themselves.

Both sides were a bit nervy under the ring, with uncharacteristic misses from both sets of shooters.

As the power five hit, the Pies had increased their margin out to five goals, but the Firebirds brought it back to a goal during the power five period. They had an opportunity to level it just shy of quarter time but the super shot did not drop, and so at quarter time the Pies held a two goal lead.

The second term was a quarter of swaying momentums. The Magpies extended their lead out to four goals in the opening few minutes of the second term, and had the Firebirds rattled in transition. However, the Firebirds then rallied and brought it back to a goal the difference, and then levelled things after about five minutes. 

Collingwood then rallied again and restored their four goal margin. The Pies extended their lead even further during the power five and at half-time the margin was six goals. There were not a lot of super shots scored in the first half, so it was a contest mainly decided by regular goals. Donnell Wallam nailed one super shot in each of the first two quarters, but that was it.

It was a pretty even start to the second half, but the Firebirds were able to bridge the gap back down to four goals. Then the Firebirds started to gain a little bit of momentum, and kept clawing away at the lead. But, then Collingwood steadied and stopped the flurry of Firebirds goals.

They then got back on top and extended their lead back out to five, which was a testament to the class of players they had back in their lineup this week. The Firebirds had one last chance to bring things back to a goal but their super shot missed, and so at the final change the margin was three goals, but you just felt like the match could still go either way.

The Magpies extended their lead even further in the last term, and at times the Firebirds were their own worst enemy in attack with some errant passing. Collingwood remained on top for the entire final term and although the Firebirds got a pair of super shots late, it was already too late as the Magpies came away with a confidence-boosting win. The win will do a world of confidence for the Magpies, who will be desperately keen to turn their season around after this win.

Despite the dominant win, Collingwood did not score a single super shot in the entire match, so the win was all through regular goals. The Firebirds however certainly went for plenty of super shots, but only managed to land four.

For Collingwood, Shimona Nelson was a star under the ring, while Molly Jovic and Ash Brazill were both exceptional through the midcourt. Jovic was particularly impressive, playing centre the whole game after coming back from Covid.

Meanwhile for Queensland, Ruby Bakewell-Doran was particularly impressive in defence, making some impressive intercepts and really trying hard to keep her side in the match.

Both teams are in their home states next weekend. The Firebirds are hosting the Swifts on Saturday, while the Magpies have got the Vixens in the first Melbourne Derby of the season.

QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 16 | 15 | 17 | 11 (59)
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES 18 | 19 | 14 | 16 (67)

STARTING SEVENS:

Queensland Firebirds:

GS: Donnell Wallam
GA: Gretel Bueta
WA: Lara Dunkley
C: Kim Ravaillion
WD: Gabi Simpson
GD: Ruby Bakewell-Doran
GK: Eboni Usoro-Brown

Collingwood Magpies:

GS: Shimona Nelson
GA: Sophie Garbin
WA: Kelsey Browne
C: Molly Jovic
WD: Ash Brazill
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Geva Mentor