Romelda Aiken-George has nailed a buzzer-beating matchwinner to hand the NSW Swifts a heart-stopping 65-64 Super Netball win against the West Coast Fever in Perth.
Key points:
- Both teams suffered multiple injury scares, with three Thunderbirds players forced off with injury
- The Thunderbirds only led by two goals at the three-quarter break
- Queensland still has just two victories to their names this season
The Fever led by three points inside the last 90 seconds of Saturday’s blockbuster battle for second spot on the ladder, only to be denied — for the second time in six days — on the final siren.
Sharpshooting Helen Housby buried her 10th two-pointer to reduce the margin to one before Maddy Turner conjured a timely intercept, which was converted by Aiken-George to tie the scores.
With the final possession, Aiken-George scored from close range in the last second after snaffling a long pass from Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud to break West Coast’s heart, just as Kiera Austin did last week with the go-ahead super shot on the bell.
“We’d obviously like to win by a few more,” Housby said after the Swifts’ fifth straight victory.
“We’ve proven that the fourth quarter is our best quarter and I’m really proud of the girls.
“This is one of the toughest places to play … we’re going to take a lot of confidence from that and it’s nice to be moving up the ladder.”
The Fever were dealt a cruel double-blow before the match with goal attack Sasha Glasgow and wing defence Jess Anstiss having to withdraw under COVID-19 protocols.
Their absences allowed Jordan Cransberg to make her league debut and 39-year-old former Diamonds legend Natalie Butler (nee Medhurst) to make her first appearance in the competition since 2019 after coming out of retirement.
Fever shooter Jhaniele Fowler was hot early, feasting on the midcourt brilliance of Verity Simmons, but the hosts couldn’t quell the Swifts attacking trio of Housby, Aiken-George and Paige Hadley as the visitors moved ahead 19-16 at quarter-time.
Housby and Fowler went goal-for-goal in the second period, at the end of which NSW led 32-30, before the Fever gradually got on top in the third.
Butler received a rousing reception when she started the second half on the court and her connection with Fowler saw West Coast forge ahead by six before Housby’s long-range attack trimmed the gap to one at three-quarter-time.
Housby’s super shot prowess was always going to pose problems for the Fever across the last five minutes, while Proud, benched for much of the third stanza, returned with a vengeance in the fourth term.
Stunning final quarter keeps Adelaide top of ladder
The top-ranked Adelaide Thunderbirds have defied an afternoon of injury-filled carnage to thump the Queensland Firebirds 63-46 at Netball SA Stadium.
A 24-9 fourth-quarter assault on Saturday helped the Thunderbirds bust open a protracted arm wrestle and sprint to their fifth successive victory, extending their lead at the top of the Super Netball ladder.
But their depth was sorely tested and their triumph came at a cost.
Goal attack Tippah Dwan left the match early in the second quarter after rolling her left ankle, while Jamaican wing defence Latanya Wilson hobbled to the bench clutching her left knee in the dying moments of the rout after landing awkwardly.
And English import Elle Cardwell missed a large chunk of the game after a knee niggle flared but she managed to come back on in the fourth term as Adelaide’s bench became severely depleted.
Fellow shooter Lucy Austin finished the match with a blood nose, while superstar defender Shamera Sterling was able to continue her season-long dominant form despite an ankle scare of her own in the second quarter.
“The message [at three-quarter-time] was to wrap our heads around whatever the Firebirds were doing and just play to our structures and basics,” Sterling said, after Adelaide turned a slender 39-37 lead at the last change into a one-sided procession.
“I’m very, very proud because at the start we let the Firebirds be in it too much with us.
“In the second half we tried to pull it away and in the last quarter we pulled away.”
The Firebirds did not escape the injury curse either, with defender Gabi Simpson hurting her left ankle after landing heavily in a collision with Maisie Nankivell in the closing moments of the first half.
Scores were locked away at 12-all following a defence-dominated, turnover-riddled opening term before Queensland looked like creating a gap in the second stanza.
But the Thunderbirds’ makeshift attack of Georgie Horjus and Austin got on top late in the quarter to give the home side a slender half-time edge.
Nothing separated the two teams in the third period before Adelaide seized complete control down the stretch.
Sterling consistently stymied the Firebirds’ attacking waves in the fourth, while Cardwell returned to the court and created havoc in the circle.
AAP