The NSW Swifts have moved to equal top of the Suncorp Super Netball ladder after defeating the Adelaide Thunderbirds 58-53 at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena today.
With one round of the regular season to play there are now four teams tied on 32 points, each of them in with a chance of claiming the Minor Premiership on Saturday.
West Coast Fever lead the way with a superior goal percentage, followed by the Giants, Swifts and Sunshine Coast Lighting (in that order).
With the top four all playing each other this weekend, the equation for the Swifts is now very simple. Beat the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Brisbane on Saturday and they will qualify for next weekend’s Major Semi Final. Lose and they will head to a do-or-die Minor Semi Final on the same weekend.
Today’s win was the Swifts’ eighth from 13 outings so far this year with the team already qualified for a third-consecutive Finals Series after Collingwood’s loss to the Fever last night.
Sporting their heritage yellow uniform to celebrate 25 years of the club, it was a win built on the dynamic leadership of Maddy Proud in the midcourt and the brilliant target provided by Sophie Garbin in attack.
It was a calm, composed start from both teams with Garbin and her Thunderbirds counterpart Lenize Potgieter looking comfortable under the post.
With little to separate the teams as they traded goals for the majority of the opening period it took good intercept work by Sarah Klau, and a failure by the Thunderbirds to connect with Potgieter in attack, to give the Swifts the opportunity to take a five-goal lead.
In all the Swifts had four possession gains in the first quarter and converted each of them to take a 15-10 advantage to the first break.
If the Swifts thought the Thunderbirds would have one eye on the beach that idea was quickly dispelled in a hotly contested second quarter.
Potgieter finished the first half with an impressive 17 goals from 17 attempts while her partner in the shooting circle Georgie Horjus started to grow into the game. Horjous was on target early in the second Power Five with the first Super Shot of day to reduce the gap to two goals.
However, in response the Swifts stayed patient when making their way to the shooting circle and Helen Housby stepped up to take some of the scoring workload from Garbin.
The Thunderbirds edged the second quarter 17-16 but it was the Swifts who led by four (31-27) at the big break.
A defensive tip and scramble by Proud, followed up by another big defensive play by Lauren Moore in the midcourt, gave NSW the platform to race out to a nine-goal lead early in the third quarter.
A loose Housby pass to Garbin did offer the Thunderbirds the break they needed to get back into the contest but converting possession gains was proving to be a hard task for the South Australians.
Their impressive Jamaican defender Shamera Sterling started to roam outside of her defensive circle for intercepts to keep the Thunderbirds in touch, but the patience of Garbin and Housby continued to pay dividends for the six-time Premiers.
A Super Shot from Housby, coupled with the Thunderbirds’ failure score one of their own, then put NSW in firm control of the game. They won the third quarter 17-11 and led 48-38 at the last break.
In theory it should have been a matter of controlling the final quarter to ease the Swifts to a momentum-building win, however, they wobbled when trying to register a double-digit advantage.
In the attack end they looked muddled and their sloppy passing allowed the Adelaide defence to hoover up a plethora of loose balls.
The host of turnover possession allowed the gap to shrink to four goals at one stage - a Horjus Super Shot doing enough to make the Swifts nervy - but Briony Akle’s team steadied the ship.
The Swifts picked up their own defensive gains from an Adelaide outfit that was racing against the clock and Sam Wallace – who only entered the game in the final quarter – was cool under the post to see her team home.
Quarter by quarter scores
SWIFTS | Q1: 15, Q2: 31 (16), Q3: 48 (17), Q4: 58 (10)
T'BIRDS | Q1: 10, Q2: 27 (17), Q3: 38 (11), Q4: 53 (15)
Starting teams
SWIFTS | GS Sophie Garbin, GA Helen Housby, WA Paige Hadley, C Maddy Proud, WD Tayla Fraser, GD Maddy Turner, GK Sarah Klau
Reserves used: Lauren Moore, Sam Wallace
T'BIRDS | GS Lenize Potgieter, GA Georgie Horjus, WA Maisie Nankivell, C Hannah Petty, WD Shadine Van Der Merwe, GD Matilda Garrett, GK Shamera Sterling
Reserves used: Latanya Wilson, Elle McDonald
Match stats: View HERE
