The NSW Swifts have gone down in their Round 1 Suncorp Super Netball clash with the Thunderbirds at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre tonight.
Despite being well in the contest at half time, a dominant third-quarter shooting and defensive performance from the hosts meant they took the honours in the sides’ first meeting of the year (74-54).
With the Clubs - the two most successful in National League history with a combined 13 Premierships between them (Swifts 7, Thunderbirds 6) - celebrating their 30th Anniversaries, there was no shortage of motivation from both of them to kick off with a statement win and it was the South Australians who did so.
The Swifts, who were celebrating Club captain Maddy Turner’s 150th game as well as a debut for former Silver Ferns captain Gina Crampton, had their moments but it was the Thunderbirds who won the biggest ones.
South African shooting import Elmere van der Berg was the perfect target for the Thunderbirds’ midcourt all night while returning Jamaican defender Shamera Sterling-Humprey didn’t miss a beat in her first game back since becoming a mother last year.
Swifts head coach Briony Akle made a raft of changes throughout with the introduction of Teigan O’Shannassy and Grace Whyte proving fruitful in the second quarter, which the Swifts won 17-16, but a horror third quarter put the contest to bed.
The South Australians won that period 22-11 to give them a massive 16-goal lead heading into the final quarter and leaving the Swifts with a mountain too big to climb.
For NSW Grace Nweke was the best on court, however, getting her a proper supply of possession to keep them in contention proved difficult all night.
With their first home game of the year taking place at Qudos Bank Arena next Sunday against the Mavericks the Swifts will have plenty to ponder but Akle also knows her side have a very high ceiling.
“I thought the Thunderbirds were full value for their win tonight, but we let ourselves down in key moments,” she said.
“They’ve been picked by many as favourites to take the title this year and I think they showed they are real contenders and we need to bounce back to prove we are too.
“We’ve got a lot of people in our changing room who’ve won this competition a number of times, so I expect us to be better in big moments.
“That third quarter was a combination of them being excellent but us allowing them to be to easily.
“As Swifts we need to be better than that, we have to be.”
FULL MATCH STATS
