Swifts get over the line in blockbuster
IN A heartfelt finish, the NSW Swifts got over the line in a one-goal comeback win defeating the reigning premiers West Coast Fever in the last 10 seconds, 65-64.
The Fever recorded the best first quarters this season with only dropping two, whereas the Swifts played the best fourth quarters in the competition, knowing how to end a game on a bang. This proved to be that as the Swifts took the fourth term by six goals hinting at a potential extra time thriller for the second week in a row.
The curse of the minor premiership looms over the Swifts heads with them hoping to break it for only the second time in Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) history. Tonight gets them one step closer to snapping it.
It was a retelling of the story back in Round 9 with the Swifts thankful for the finish who seemed shocked after the final siren.
Youngster Sophie Fawns played the game of her life, thrown into the deep end during the power five periods, but it paid off as she slotted seven super shots and the game winning goal with nine seconds remaining. With the radar off for Helen Housby (25 goals) in the super shot range, Fawns stepped up to the occasion and gave the Swifts the fight back finish.
A 19-15 quarter time lead to the team in green shook the Swifts bench with the score getting out of their reach slowly but surely.
Player of the match Housby was doing the bulk of the work in attack for the Swifts with 24 feeds, 20 goal assists, 19 centre pass receives. Significantly more than what she has done prior to the finals series.
Captain Courtney Bruce (105.5 Net Points, six rebounds, six deflections, three intercepts, one block) had her eyes on the prize stamping down her authority early in the first quarter with a massive intercept coming from behind of Maddy Proud, well and truly continuing her form from last week playing a captains game.
Swifts pegged back the lead to two at half time, entering the third term with all the momentum.
It slowly seemed as though the Fever had this game in the bag with the Swifts penalties getting ahead of them with 78. This was starting to affect their defence line with them unable to get a hand to the ball and it releasing the pressure mounted on the Fever attackers.
It was a topsy turvy outing with neither side really able to pull away to a major lead until the Fever jumped out to a seven goal lead late in the third term.
Fever maintained the margin of four goals for the majority of this battle, putting all of the weight on the Swifts shoulders to not face their third loss in a row at home.
Constant challenges from Sarah Klau (three deflections, two intercepts, one rebound) continued to disrupt the play in the Swifts defensive third, giving everyone a chance to breathe for a second while setting up for the next play.
A persistent workhorse for the Fever in Jess Anstiss (56.5 Net Points, two intercepts, one deflection) tried to get her side back into it by filling in the space defensively, closing off a Swifts player as an option in attack or setting up structures allowing for Bruce to go out for a fly.
It seemed as though the Fever had won this convincingly, but a late flurry of goals for the Swifts saw them back in the challenge and swipe the Fever’s premiership hopes right from under their noses.
It could not be a better story for the Swifts, with them wanting to win their third SSN title in five years next week in Melbourne against the Adelaide Thunderbirds who are looking for the first premiership in 10 years.
Player of the Match = Helen Housby (NSW Swifts)
NEW SOUTH WALES SWIFTS 15 | 18 | 13 | 19 (66)
WEST COAST FEVER 19 | 16 | 16 | 13 (65)
STARTING SEVENS:
New South Wales Swifts:
GS: Romelda Aiken-George
GA: Helen Housby
WA: Paige Hadley
C: Maddy Proud
WD: Tayla Fraser
GD: Maddy Turner
GK: Sarah Klau
West Coast Fever:
GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Sasha Glasgow
WA: Alice Teague-Neeld
C: Verity Simmons
WD: Jess Anstiss
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce
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