THE Adelaide Thunderbirds clinched their first win since 2017 and showed that they are a real threat in this year’s competition. It was a relatively high scoring match filled with plenty of big contests with the Thunderbirds narrowly edging out the West Coast Fever by one goal (61-60). The Fever started hot with their connections down the court but with some big injuries to key players they were unable to keep up their intensity throughout the match.

The Fever had a 4-0 goal head start in the opening minutes of the first quarter with their transition down the court on point. Their defensive pressure was equally as impressive clogging up the attacking end of the Thunderbirds stopping them from moving the ball down the court. Jhaniele Fowler was once again prolific under the post proving to be the go to girl for the Fever who often resulted to the high ball into the circle to get them out of trouble. Sasha Glasgow opened the account for the Thunderbirds midway through the first quarter thanks to her silky movement. Her connection with new shooting partner Maria Folau really started to develop as the game went on with both shooters rolling off each other well and setting up clever screens. Folau got the better of Stacey Francis who was unable to stop her influence in attack. But the Fever were dealt a huge blow in the dying minutes of the quarter with captain and star goal keeper, Courtney Bruce going down with a wrist injury. Bruce went up for a big fly and took a nasty fall, landing straight onto her arm sending shock waves through the Fever camp. At quarter time the Thunderbirds held a two-goal lead over the grand finalists thanks to some impressive defensive pressure and attacking play.

In the second term the Fever worked their way back into the game to come out even at half time with 33 goals apiece but it was not without hard work. Bruce looked to be carrying her arm but still put out a solid performance going for the big intercepts and applying strong pressure. Shamera Sterling made Fowler work for everything in the goal circle, getting hands to ball and using her extreme athleticism to disrupt the attacking play. Sterling’s body positioning was exceptional throughout the game, working Fowler over time to confuse the space and pick up deflections. The goal keeper was backed up by English import Layla Guscoth who covered Kaylia Stanton only allowing her to put up a couple of shots.

Half-time saw some big changes for the Fever with Bruce coming to the bench and youngster, Olivia Lewis donning the keeper bib. Shannon Eagland also made her way onto the court in goal defence, while Alice Teague-Neeld made her debut for the Fever. The changes seemed to prove dividends with West Coast winning the quarter by three goals. Chelsea Pitman was solid in attack for the Thunderbirds feeding the ball well into the shooters and creating space in the attacking third. Meanwhile, Hannah Petty came on to provide some fresh legs through the midcourt replacing Kelly Altmann. The combination between Folau and Glasgow also looked ominous with both not afraid to shoot the long bombs.

Holding a three-goal lead at three quarter time, the Thunderbirds came out with a real fire in the belly and worked tirelessly across the court to try and create turnover ball and capitalise in the goal circle. With a spring in their step, Sterling led the way in defence taking some big intercepts to propel her team into attack. She racked up four gains, two intercepts and two rebounds in the final term alone providing plenty of excitement for the coming rounds. Kate Shimmin made her way into goal defence to help out the Jamaican defender, pushing Guscoth out into wing defence and Beth Cobden to the bench. Shimmin paired well creating doubt and confusing the space, while Guscoth did a solid job on Jess Anstiss who found herself in her non-preferred position of wing attack. Fowler claimed player of the match after putting on a shooting clinic with 51 goals at 100 percent even though the towering goaler was helped from the court after rolling her ankle forcing Stanton onto the court for the last few minutes. The Thunderbirds pushed out to a three-goal lead and seemed to have it in the bag until the Fever pushed hard scoring quickly to remain in the hunt. But in the end, it was the Adelaide Thunderbirds who were victorious claiming their first win of the season and ending a 27 game losing streak.

Starting line-up:

Thunderbirds:
GS |Sasha Glasgow
GA |Maria Folau
WA |Chelsea Pitman
C |Kelly Altmann
WD |Beth Cobden
GD |Layla Guscoth
GK |Shamera Sterling

Fever:
GS |Jhaniele Fowler
GA |Kaylia Stanton
WA |Ingrid Colyer
C |Verity Charles
WD |Jess Anstiss
GD |Stacey Francis
GK |Courtney Bruce