THE NSW Swifts won their second match in a row last night, beating the Adelaide Thunderbirds by a single goal.

One-point nail-biters are starting to become the Achilles heel of the Adelaide Thunderbirds so far this season. They lost their second nail biting match by the slimmest of margins in a row.

Despite some brilliant intercept work from the Thunderbirds, it was the Swifts who were the first to take a small lead. The Thunderbirds did reel it back in, but a couple of super shots to the Swifts saw them retake the lead. In a low scoring opening term, at quarter time the margin was three goals in favour of the Swifts.

The story of much of the second quarter was stop start momentums. The Thunderbirds got the first three goals of the second term to reel in the Swifts’ lead before the Swifts got one back to restore their lead.

NSW Swifts then built a small lead before the Thunderbirds reeled it back in and took the lead themselves.

The Swifts then regained the lead in the shadow of the power five, and was still in front at the half time buzzer. At half time the margin was still three goals in favour of the Swifts. The Swifts got on a bit of a run to start the third term, stretching the lead out to a game high of eight goals.

Adelaide Thunderbirds then came right back at them, bringing the margin right back to only three as the power five period began. As the teams turned for home the margin remained at three, but it felt like the match could go either team’s way.

It was an even start to the final term, but the Swifts were able to extend their lead slightly back out to four. At the start of the power five period the Swifts had extended their lead back out to seven, but then Georgie Horjus landed a super shot which began a bit of a resurgence for the Thunderbirds. She then landed another and then suddenly the margin was back down to two.

They then brought it back down to one but still had almost a minute left to overtake the lead. Then Thunderbirds gave away an offensive contact, and things fell apart for the Thunderbirds. The Swifts then retained possession for the rest of the term and held on for the win.

Someone who was impressive all game for the Swifts was Helen Housby, who had her eye in particularly from super shot range. Paige Hadley (one intercept, 13 goal assists) was strong through the midcourt, with 18-year-old Sophie Fawns finishing with eight goals from 11 attempts alongside Housby. Defensive Diamonds combination of Maddy Turner and Sarah Klau also proved vital in tight circumstances.

Meanwhile for the Thunderbirds, Shamera Sterling was extremely impressive, nailing a high number of intercepts in the first half and finishing with three intercepts, four deflections and four rebounds. Her defensive partner in Latanya Wilson picked up two intercepts, a massive 11 deflections and a rebound, whilst Lenize Potgieter shot 32 goals from 35 attempts.

Next round both sides are away. The Thunderbirds are in Queensland to face the Firebirds, while the Swifts are in Perth to tackle the Fever.

ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS 10 | 10 | 11 | 13 (44)
NSW SWIFTS 13 | 10 | 11 | 11 (45)

STARTING SEVENS:

Adelaide Thunderbirds:

GS: Lenize Potgeiter
GA: Tippah Dwan
WA: Georgie Horjus
C: Maisie Nankivell
WD: Hannah Petty
GD: Matilda Garrett
GK: Shamera Sterling

NSW Swifts:

GS: Sophie Fawns
GA: Helen Housby
WA: Maddy Proud
C: Paige Hadley
WD: Allie Smith
GD: Maddy Turner
GK: Sarah Klau