T-birds snap two-year losing streak

Led by Maria Folau, the Adelaide Thunderbirds broke a losing streak lasting almost two years with win over West Coast Fever.

Thunderbirds goal attack Maria Folau takes on West Coast. Picture: Sarah Reed

Led by star recruit Maria Folau, the Adelaide Thunderbirds broke a losing streak lasting almost two years with a 61-60 home win over West Coast Fever in the opening round of Super Netball season.

The Fever were ahead by two points in the final quarter when star goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler (51 goals, 51 attempts) went down with an ankle injury, and spent the remaining seven minutes sidelined at Priceline Stadium.

The new-look Thunderbirds line-up looked dominant from that point, allowing the Fever just three more goals while scoring six of their own to end the club’s sorry sequence of 27 losses in a row.

Folou (24 goals, 31 attempts) stepped up in the game’s most crucial moments, while goal shooter Sasha Glasgow looked equally impressive with 37 goals from 47 attempts.

The game was the first for the Thunderbirds under new head coach Tania Obst, after Dan Ryan was dumped before the end of last season.

The Fever felt the loss of goal attack Natalie Medhurst, who moved to Colllingwood after last year’s grand final loss.

Fever captain Courtney Bruce had an injury scare, coming off clutching her hand in the dying seconds of the first quarter.

She returned in the second, but spent time on the bench during the remainder of the game.

The Fever hosts the Sunshine Coast Lightning next Sunday, while the Thunderbirds will take on the NSW Swifts in Sydney.

In the earlier game, an inspired performance from Paige Hadley helped the Swifts deliver a statement of intent as they toppled the Giants 63-56 to claim just their second Super Netball derby win.

The Swifts were without stars Nat Haythornwaite and Kate Eddy but they brushed those setbacks aside as player of the match Hadley delivered 25 goal assists, import Sam Wallace landed 46 of 49 goal attempts and Maddy Turner and Sarah Klau turned up the heat in defence.

The Swifts have made it clear it is no longer good enough to be considered a promising young team and they want their first taste of finals action in this third season of Super Netball.

What better way to start than by grinding down last year’s minor premiers for their second derby win in five attempts, the first since round three of the inaugural Super Netball season in 2017.

“We took it upon ourselves and knew that we needed to step up our intensity this season and today was a pretty good start on that,” said Hadley.

“We had a couple of girls out today and we are mainly worried about the process and know each game is going to be tough for us.”

Australian captain and goalshooter Caitlin Bassett made her debut for the Giants on return from the fractured arm suffered on national team duty in England in January.

There were signs of rust in a solid performance after just one full week of training with the team as Bassett landed 28 goals from 36 attempts before being subbed during the final quarter.

The Swifts took the first-quarter bonus point by leading 14-12.

There was an injury concern for Giants centre Jamie-Lee Price after just seven minutes, but her knee complaint was strapped by the medical team and she returned to the court and was impressive in defeat with a team-high 17 assists.

The Giants clawed their way back in the second quarter and went to halftime with a 30-28 lead.

However, the Swifts finished the stronger in the second half, steadily pulling away to a comfortable win.

The Giants have welcomed several new faces to their squad this season along with superstar Bassett, and were realistic that it would take a little time for combinations to gel.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, we have some young girls in our side now and we just need to keep working with a positive attitude regardless of what the scoreline is,” said Price.

“We have the likes of C-Bass (Caitlin Bassett) coming into our side now and she has only just recovered from a broken arm, so we just need to keep working on feeding her the ball.”

AAP