Queensland Firebirds beat NSW Swifts 63-52 in Australian netball conference final

THERE was no last-minute game changer as there was in the other Origin III. No fairytale end to a nine-year losing run as the Swifts bowed out of the finals against the Firebirds.

THERE was no last-minute game changer as there was in the other Origin III. No fairytale end to a nine-year losing run.

Only the realisation for the NSW Swifts there would be a high price to pay for their second loss in three outings to the Queensland Firebirds.

The 63-52 Australian netball conference final defeat in Brisbane on Monday ended the Swifts’ hopes of hosting next week’s semi-final of the ANZ Championship.

The Swifts’ Kimberlee Green (left) looks to challenge the Firebirds’ Gabi Simpson.

It also means they have no chance of hosting another game this year on home turf.

Instead the Swifts will be heading to the airport and across the ditch to fight for their competition survival on hostile turf next weekend against the top New Zealand team in the competition.

Swifts co-captain Kim Green, who came off at halftime, said the team were disappointed with the night.

“It was a tough one,” she said.

“I think we were right up the at times but just couldn’t execute.

“But there us still like in us yet. We always learn a lot off our losses.

“We just have to take a old loom at what happened and fix it.”

Green also paid tribute to the Firebirds.

Gretel Tippett and Maddy Turner contest the ball. Picture: Jono Searle.

“They played very well. They were very clinical,” she said.

Adding to the Swifts’ tale of woe is the fact one of the club’s worst netball records is both intact and extended.

When the Firebirds beat the side by 11 goals on Monday they extended the Swifts losing run in Brisbane to 11 consecutive losses.

And should the Swifts manage to beat the inform Magic next round and the Firebirds down Southern Steel at home, the NSW club will be facing that hoodoo again in the season decider.

Playing in black armbands due to a death in defender Sharni Layton’s family, the Swifts gave as good as they got in most areas but still came up short in the crucial match.

Up by two early in the game they were on the wrong side of the score line for the remainder of the match, trailing 16-12 at the first break, 32-27 at halftime and 47-37 going into the final quarter.

The Firebirds’ Romelda Aiken grabs the ball ahead of the Swifts’ Sharni Layton.

In the first half the Thunderbirds put up 40 goals to the Swifts’ 37 and lead the turnover and rebounds count to account for their five goal lead.

Despite their best efforts - and an extraordinary performance from Layton on super shooter Romelda Aiken - the Swifts were unable to regain the lost ground.

Still in the game until the third quarter, the confident Firebirds went up a notch as the Swifts attempted to stem the tide with multiple changes.

The result means the Firebirds will now tackle the losers of the New Zealand Conference final, Southern Steel, in the Australian based semi-final on Sunday.

The Swifts will head across the Tasman to take on Magic on Monday with the winners if these matches meeting in the season decider.