THE Adelaide Thunderbirds have got one back on the GIANTS, defeating them 54-50 reverse the Round 4 result. In a game of swinging momentums, it was the Thunderbirds who ultimately stood tall and prevailed in a nail-biter.

It was as tight as you could get in the opening passages of play, as teams traded blows and were hard to split. The GIANTS were being really clever in attack to navigate the influence of the notorious Thunderbirds’ defensive end, but they were unable to pinch goals off Thunderbirds’ centre passes.

Just as the Power Five began, the Thunderbirds finally started to cement their dominance on the game off the back of some strong defensive pressure. They quickly raced out to a five-goal lead, which is where the gmae sat at the first change after the GIANTS missed a number of Super Shot attempts.

The Thunderbirds maintained their strong momentum in the second quarter, stretching their lead out even further. However as big as the lead was, it felt much tighter in play.

Both sets of defenders were the ones particularly starring. The defensive pressure from Shamera Sterling, Matilda Garrett and Latanya Wilson was really getting to the GIANTS and causing a number of held balls, while Lauren Moore and her intercepts were really a one woman mission trying to keep the GIANTS in the team.

By the time the Power Five was about to start, the GIANTS had really worked their way back into the game and were only two goals down, and thanks to a Sophie Dwyer Super Shot, scores were level. However Tippah Dwan had other ideas and countered with a Super Shot of her own off the next centre pass. The next two centre passes also both resulted in Super Shots as Jo Harten and Eleanor Cardwell got in on the action too.

By the time the half-time buzzer went, Adelaide’s lead was down to three and it was all to play for. The GIANTS did not take long to level up proceedings and take the lead after a run of five unanswered goals to open the term, which forced a fired up Tania Obst to change things up with the Thunderbirds.  

The defenders were again standing tall for both sides, really making shooting very tough for both sides. Much of the back half of the quarter saw the GIANTS hold a narrow lead, and this continued into the Power Five period.

Adelaide only scored nine goals for the quarter, but the GIANTS only held a one-goal lead at the final change. In a frantic opening passage of play in the last term, it took a minute and a half for the first goal of the quarter to go in.

It was again tight in the opening five minutes of the final quarter as the Thunderbirds maintained a lead, albeit one that was no more than a goal or two.

The GIANTS were only two goals down at the beginning of the Power Five, but were certainly going for the Super Shots straight away, although unable to land them. The nervous energy was rising as things remained tight and it really was turning into a game of inches.

The Thunderbirds scored the last three goals of the game to take the win as the GIANTS could not score at all in the final two minutes of the match, no matter how hard both Harten and Dwyer tried.

Georgie Horjus (36 feeds, 19 assists) had a big game for the Thunderbirds, as did Maddie Hay (36 feeds, 12 assists) and Jamie-Lee Price (33 feeds, 11 assists) for the GIANTS.

GIANTS NETBALL                          13 | 15 | 13 | 9 (50)
ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS          18 | 13 | 9 | 14 (54)

STARTING SEVENS

GIANTS Netball

GS: Jo Harten
GA: Sophie Dwyer
WA: Maddie Hay
C: Jamie-Lee Price
WD: Amy Parmenter
GD: April Brandley
GK: Lauren Moore

Adelaide Thunderbirds

GS: Eleanor Cardwell
GA: Tippah Dwan
WA: Georgie Horjus
C: Tayla Williams
WD: Latanya Wilson
GD: Matilda Garrett
GK: Shamera Sterling