THE second placed NSW Swifts dominated from start to finish against a languishing Collingwood side that struggled to find its flow through the midcourt and attacking third going down by 15 goals (54-69).  Despite challenging for patches, Collingwood never really looked like upsetting the reigning premiers who showcased their ability to hold strong and revert to their structures when things got trying.

Both sides took a couple of minutes to settle into the game with space well and truly congested in attack and some scrappy passages of play marring the start to the match. Despite the scrappiness, it was goal for goal to start the game with the flavour of the match being look long into the goal circle with both Shimona Nelson and Sam Wallace dictating the flow in attack for their respective sides. Geva Mentor made life hard early for Wallace in the goal circle, contesting the high ball and pressuring the hands of Wallace. The Swifts got the break early capitalising on a turnover off the Magpies centre pass to push out to a two goal buffer. Nelson came out with a fire in the belly for the Pies commanding the ball under the post but a couple of poorly directed passes cost Collingwood as the reigning premiers put the foot down.

With a four-goal lead in the favour of the Swifts, Collingwood called a timeout and looked upbeat. A quick goal to Nelson cut the deficit to three before Jodi-Ann Ward showcased her impressive aerial ability and three-foot marking to steal an intercept and get back to two goals. But the Swifts regained composure and looked to punish the Magpies in attack with Sophie Craig and Sarah Klau putting in the hard yards to reel into intercepts and force turnovers. Wallace landed the first super shot of the game to extend the margin to seven goals while the increased defensive pressure from the Swifts got into the heads of the Magpies with the frontend riddled with errant passes.

The Swifts made a couple of changes to kickstart the second term with Kelly Singleton replacing Sophie Garbin. The goal attack hit the scoreboard early but had her work cut out for her against Ward who challenged her every step of the way. Molly Jovic and Kelly Altmann showcased their speed in transition for the Magpies with the midcourt duo combining seamlessly to hit circle edge. It was not pretty for either side as their movement down the court was stagnant due to the defensive hands over pressure but the Swifts found a way to ride through it and find some form of continuity. Maddy Proud also entered the game in wing attack using her speed and strength to carve up Mel Bragg around the circle and deliver the ball on a silver platter to Wallace.

Youngster Tayla Fraser injected plenty of speed into the Swifts midcourt, contesting every pass and using her hot hands to keep the defenders guessing. With the super shot coming into play Collingwood shook up the shooting circle with Nyah Allen taking the court quickly getting into the thick of things against Klau. Consecutive super shots from from Allen and Gabby Sinclair saw the Pies draw the margin back before another two point shot allowed Collingwood to get within six goals as the Swifts called a timeout. The break seemed to pay dividends for the Swifts who came out composed with ball in hand, happy to work their way down the court to try and treasure possession. With Mentor wreaking havoc down back and getting plenty of hands to ball Garbin re-entered the game and had an immediate impact with her strong drive to allow Wallace to control the flow in attack.

Holding a handy nine-goal buffer, Collingwood looked to eat into the margin through the hands of Emma Ryde but the Swifts were up to the challenge contesting every ball and holding firm. The defensive combination of Matilda Garrett in goal defence, Ward out in wing defence and Mentor started to kick into gear as the trio picked up some loose ball. Ryde seemed to have the ball on a string under the post using her height and body positioning to keep Klau at bay and the scoreboard ticking over. Getting back to within seven goals, Wallace turned it up a notch under the post as Natalie Haythornthwaite came alive in wing attack for the Swifts to find a wealth of space in the attacking third. Goal defence Maddy Turner also flipped the tables on Sinclair with her lean over the shot and shadowing style of play wearing her down in patches.

Holding the momentum early the Magpies wrestled back the control from the Swifts as they increased the intensity across the court. Collingwood worked in overdrive to chip away at the deficit but a couple of errant passes and missed connections given both Madi and Kelsey Browne were out of action saw the lead blow out once again as Paige Hadley and Maddy Proud plied their trade to pick up a wealth of defensive ball. Collingwood simply could not capitalise on their chances while the Swifts consistently found a way to hit the scoreboard.

An injury scare to Garbin looked like it was going to disrupt the Swifts’ line-up but their class shone through with youngster Singleton stepping up to the plate and finding her range. Klau further sparked her side into action, proving to be a wall in defence as the Swifts opened up a 10-goal lead. The Swifts started to hum across the court linking up with great ease and streaming down the court to slice Collingwood open in every which way to run out comfortable victors.

Without Housby the shooting load fell to Wallace who was well and truly up to the task sinking 47 goals for the game, while Garbin also hit the scoreboard with eight goals from 13 attempts down on her usual output. For the Pies the scoring responsibility was shared with Nelson plying her trade under the post with 16 goals at 100 per cent accuracy, as Sinclair highlighted her long range shooting, recording three super shots to go with her five normal goals. Ryde was the topscorer with 21 goals while Allen also managed three goals for the game.

In terms of defensive efforts, Mentor and Ward worked in overdrive for Collingwood collectively amassing eight gains (four of which were intercepts) and 15 deflections. Up the other end Klau shone for the Swifts with her read of the play to register a whopping seven intercepts while Proud starred winning the MVP thanks to her 15 goal assists, one intercept and one gain performance.

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>>> SWIFTS TEAM PAGE
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Collingwood Magpies 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 (54)
NSW Swifts 20 | 16 | 12 | 21 (69)

STARTING SEVEN:

Collingwood Magpies:

GS: Shimona Nelson
GA: Gabby Sinclair
WA: Kelly Altmann
C: Molly Jovic
WD: Melissa Bragg
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Geva Mentor

NSW Swifts:

GS: Sam Wallace
GA: Sophie Garbin
WA: Natalie Haythornthwaite
C: Paige Hadley
WD: Sophie Craig
GD: Lauren Moore
GK: Sarah Klau