The NSW Swifts have fallen 69-62 to the Sunshine Coast Lightning in a pulsating Round 6 Suncorp Super Netball clash at Ken Rosewall Arena.
A huge crowd turned out as the Swifts celebrated ANZAC Round, but a crazy turnaround in the third quarter took the wind out of their sails as the seven-time champions missed out on a chance to leap into the competition top four.
The Lightning, champions in 2017 and 2018, stood firm in the face of a huge challenge from the Premiers, proving that last week’s surprise win over the pace-setting Melbourne Vixens was no fluke.
For the Swifts it means the defending champions have suffered back-to-back losses and have a 2-4 win-loss ratio heading into next week’s Round 7 clash with the Firebirds in Brisbane, which marks the midway point of the regular season.
The first quarter was a game of cat-and-mouse with the Lightning gaining an early advantage through fine defensive work by Kate Walsh, who was leaping perfectly to disrupt Kelly Singleton’s attempts.
However, despite this the visitors were having their own disruptions on the way to the post and the Premiers rallied well to stay in touch when the Queenslanders looked like getting on a roll in the first Power Five of the night. The Swifts went quarter time four goals down: 15-19.
Three brilliant Sarah Klau defensive players were the catalyst which brought the champions right back into the game in the second quarter as head coach Briony Akle switched up her side by bringing on Sophie Fawns at shooter and moving Helen Housby to goal attack.
It proved to be an effective move with the new attacking combination posing new questions for the Lightning defence, which to that point had the upper hand.
Klau, Maddy Turner and Allie Smith all played pivotal roles in securing vital turnover possession and five minutes from halftime the Swifts had converted enough of it to take the lead for the first time. A controversial call against Maddy Proud, who was deemed to have put the ball out of play, gave the Lightning the break they needed to retake the lead, but it was only by one goal at halftime.
Turner was to the fore early in the third quarter when she pounced on some indecision in the Lightning midcourt. Fawns was quick to reward the efforts of her teammates and midway through the period the Swifts were up by three.
That turnaround would be flipped on its head in the third Power Five however, as Lightning youngster Reilley Batcheldor stood up to make huge plays.
While the Swifts were happy to take single goals to keep their score ticking over the Queenslanders were risking big with Super Shots. Batcheldor nailed three of them and in the space of a few minutes it was the 2017 and 2018 champions taking a three-goal lead to the final break (51-48) and the centre pass to boost.
Great defence from Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Maddie Hinchcliffe put Sunshine Coast in full control in the last quarter. Midway through the period they led by seven and the in the last Power Five the Premiers were forced to throw caution to the wind.
The Super Shots, which sank so easily for Housby last week, rattled the rim this time out and the visitors were there to clear possession up.
FULL MATCH STATS
