Swifts break Firebirds’ hearts with classy extra time win

Netball fans were treated to a gripping contest between the NSW Swifts and the Queensland Firebirds at Nissan Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The Swifts got the job done on Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Coaches and players have praised the introduction of extra time for Super Netball after the NSW Swifts underlined their title credentials with a 69-66 win over the Queensland Firebirds in the league’s first regular season tie-breaker.

The Firebirds looked to have capped a stunning fightback in front of a near-capacity crowd at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena when they pinched the lead with 11 seconds remaining in regular time.

And they had the chance to lock the win up with a centre pass possession but turned the ball over before the Swifts – who sprinted from the blocks and led by as many as eight at one stage in the second quarter – locked things up with a goal to Helen Housby after the final siren.

The Swifts dominated the five-minute extra period, with Sam Wallace potting five goals to take her tally to a perfect 49-of-49 for the afternoon, while the Firebirds committed three turnovers to lose their grip on the match.

The four-quarter score would have resulted in teams splitting the points until this year, where extra time has been introduced for the first time in regular-season matches.

It’s something both teams are in favour of.

“I do like having the result, you play to win, you want a result,” Swifts coach Briony Akle said.

“That’s what you train for. These guys want the outcome, they don’t want to walk away happy with a point each, we want to take away the points and it’s good for the game.”

Firebirds captain Gabi Simpson echoed those thoughts, despite her team’s “hit to the heart” after their courageous fightback fell marginally short.

“I think it’s great, play to a result,” she said.

“We haven’t done that before and if we were to do it again, we’d be a bit more prepared for extra-time but that’s what you want, you want to finish a game with a result and Swifts responded better in that last five minutes.”

The Swifts were the more accurate team in the goal circle. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Akle, who came up against great mate and former Swift Megan Anderson, who was making her Firebirds coaching debut, said she had reminded her side about the possibility of extra-time just before the match, knowing it would be a close encounter.

“First game back for both sides, I thought, this is good netty, this is fun, this is what we’ve been training for, for the last six months,” Akle said.

“We’ve done a lot of those scenarios and I think it prepared us beautifully.

“There was no room for panic, we have literally trained for that over and over.”

Both teams showed why they are among most pundits’ finals picks for this season with a stunningly fast and skilful Round 1 clash.

While the Swifts boast the most stable combination in the league and are determined to bounce back from a meek exit from last year’s finals, the Firebirds are aiming to push back into the finals after the return of Gretel Bueta and Kim Ravaillion.

The pair showed it will not take long to return to their best and Simpson said the Firebirds had the depth to maintain their level for the entire match.

“You could feel them building into the game and as the game went on you could see them stand up and take control and dictate the play a bit,” she said.

“We’ve got 10 extremely strong players and each person brings something different when they take the court.”

NSW SWIFTS 69 (Wallace 49, Housby 15, Garbin 5) def QUEENSLAND FIREBIRDS 66 (Aiken 39, Bueta 19, Dwan 8).