It was a classic tale of "a game of two halves".
The NSW Swifts have had a tough loss against the West Coast Fever today over in Perth for Round 5 of the Suncorp Super Netball, despite a strong first half to the game. It was always going to be a rough battle at RAC Arena, and it proved to be exactly that.
The first quarter was one of the stronger starts of the season, with the Swifts creating a couple of turnovers & capitalising early, producing a nice 4 goal lead. With Jhaniele Fowler standing strong under the post though, Fever were quick to close the gap & take the lead. A huge effort from Helen Housby who shot 4/4 Super Shots however, brought the Swifts back into the game and by the end of quarter 1, they found themselves down by 1.
The next 15 minutes was another solid start for the Swifts defensive end. The fairly new combination of Sarah Klau & Teigan O’Shannassy in the circle plus Maddy Turner out at WD, was proving to become quite a force to be reckoned with, forcing some very uncharacteristic mistakes from the Fever.
West Coast remained persistent though, and their own world class defensive circle repaid the favour. Both Kelly Singleton & newly announced replacement player Sophie Fawns took the court with Helen Housby in attempt to keep the Fever guessing. A last-minute Super Shot from none other than Jhaniele Fowler took the Fever lead out to 4 going into half time.
At the start of quarter 3, shooters Singleton & Housby had found some rhythm in their freshly formed rotating circle, allowing the score to come within 1 after 3 minutes of play. A quick intercept by Fever Captain Courtney Bruce however, instigated a significant a shift in momentum.
A huge 7 back-to-back goal stint from the Fever caused mainly by the Swifts own errors, saw what was a 4 point lead going into the Power 5, turn into 7 point lead going into the final fifteen.
The defensive pressure of the Fever had been stepped up even more in the last quarter, pushing the Swifts high & making it difficult for the attack to easily penetrate any sort of defensive set up. Although a grind, patience and experience from Co-Captains Maddy Proud & Paige Hadley eventually allowed the Swifts to get the ball to where it needed to be. The score line however, just wouldn’t budge.
Despite multiple intercepts, 2 major ones coming from Teigan O’Shannassy herself, the Swifts just couldn’t capitalise when it was critical. The shooting accuracy of Sasha Glasgow & Fowler, in addition to the clinical attacking structure from the Fever mid-court, just proved too good for the Swifts in the end. Fever took out the game by 18 after a dominant effort in the final Power 5.
It wasn’t the performance the Swifts expected from themselves, especially in the shooting end, but there is still plenty of good to takeaway and bring into next week’s clash against the Sunshine Coast Lightning. The score may have ran away in the end, but it isn't entirely an accurate reflection on the game as a whole.
FULL MATCH STATS
