Super Netball, Team Girls Cup: Thunderbirds, Fever, impress as Qld teams fight for wooden spoon
Big wins, tight tussles, and much-needed court time for young and established stars alike made for a fascinating Teams Girls Cup, and a shock result has set up a tantalising decider.
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Day two of the Team Girls Cup served up some tantalising clashes, setting the stage for a day of thrilling finals on Sunday.
It will be headlined by the final between the Super Netball champion Thunderbirds undefeated West Coast Fever in the decider.
ANALYSIS: ADELAIDE | NSW | QUEENSLAND | VICTORIA
READ MORE: Relive day one of the Team Girls Cup here
ADELAIDE
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey had a well-earned rest, not even named on the bench, but you wouldn’t have known with Latanya Wilson and Matilda Garrett dominating a young Giants attacking line.
The pair finished with nine gains in only 40 minutes of play, which went a long way in securing their victory.
Romelda Aiken-George returned to court after missing Day 1, with a heavily strapped knee but not at all bothered as she teamed up with first year player Kayla Graham.
With a clear height advantage over the Giants defenders, the Thunderbirds capitalised and jumped out to an early lead which they never gave up.
They pushed out their lead every quarter, while giving young training partners more valuable court time and still winning by an impressive 11 goals.
The final pool play match against Sunshine Coast Lightning was enthralling. After two solid wins, the moving circle of Lightning caused confusion for the Thunderbirds defenders.
Romelda Aiken-George was missing from the game squad yet again, opening the door for Lucy Austin to continue asserting her dominance in the goal shooter bib. The young goaler was not overawed coming up against Diamond Courtney Bruce, and often took the aerial battle to the seasoned veteran.
As their score advantage decreased, the Thunderbirds threw everything they had to maintain their lead. Captain Hannah Petty and midcourter Tayla Williams put their bodies on the line to keep the ball alive with Petty taking a dive over a barricade and into the stands to save a pass.
Lightning held a two-goal lead heading into the final Super Shot period and after a few calls falling their way, the lead extended to six.
A spectacular Sterling-Humphrey block and Austin super shot closed the gap to two but the clock beat the home side who were unable to answer with the following centre pass.
Their home court winning streak ended with a two-goal loss.
NSW
Swifts’ decision to rest powerhouse Grace Nweke backfired in a 39-34 loss to West Coast Fever.
The moving circle struggled to connect and they found themselves on the back foot early, forced to fight back from an early six-goal deficit.
They took advantage of an inexperienced Fever line up in the third quarter, but it was too little too late as they still trailed by five at the final whistle.
Giants were without Jo Harten and Jodi-Ann Ward for the second day of competition, so it was up to the youngsters to run the show against a menacing Adelaide Thunderbirds side. While they put up a valiant fight, with young shooters Monika ‘Otai and Matisse Letherbarrow particularly strong against the imposing Thunderbirds defence, even their four super shots weren’t enough, as they fell 11 goals short.
Swifts’ second battle of the day against the Firebirds saw a much stronger line up take the court, but it was still a fierce battle.
Nweke was frustrated with the attention from the Firebirds defenders, earning a few offensive contacts while at the other end Mary Cholhok was making easy work of the Swifts defenders. The teams couldn’t be separated, until a missed super shot from the Firebirds in the dying moments allowed Swifts to breathe a sigh of relief, clinching a four-goal victory.
With a few starters returning to the side for game three, Giants were able to lead most of the way against the Melbourne Mavericks.
But a late miss handed Mavs a one-point win.
The match was physical right the way down the court forcing Giants coach, Julie Fitzgerald to implore her athletes to not get “caught up in the physical stuff”.
Late in the third quarter Mavericks captain Amy Parmenter was sent off for deliberate contact resulting in her side to play with one less body on the court.
The match was ultimately decided by super shots, each team nailed three but a miss from Sophie Dwyer in the final seconds handed Mavericks the win by the narrowest of margins.
QUEENSLAND
Queensland rivals the Firebirds and Sunshine Coast Lightning will battle to avoid the Team Girls Cup wooden spoon on Sunday.
The Firebirds struggled to build any momentum against the dominant Vixens.
They couldn’t capitalise on the height of Mary Cholhok, as she was relegated to the bench in favour of a moving goal circle with a double super shot threat.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran was a standout in defence, leading the game with six gains.
Both teams scored five super shots, but Vixens nabbed the win by nine.
Sunshine Coast Lightning had two of their biggest names on the secondary bench, with Courtney Bruce and Steph Fretwell both watching from the sidelines.
It was left to Liz Watson and Cara Koenen to lead the young team against a fired-up Mavericks outfit.
Their inexperience showed as they struggled to connect through court and were left chasing.
Reilley Batcheldor brought the show time flare, nailing two falling out of court shots to rev up the crowd.
But it wasn’t enough, as they couldn’t mount the comeback they needed, eventually going down by a whopping 21 goals.
The Firebirds looked like a new team against the NSW Swifts; tired bodies were no more and Cholhok looked the best she had all weekend.
The teams couldn’t be separated for much of the match as the defenders had Grace Nweke rattled, and Macy Gardner provided strong defensive pressure through the middle.
It wasn’t until a missed supershot from Abigail Latu-Meafou in the final, that the Swifts could take a breath.
Lightning had big guns Courtney Bruce and Steph Fretwell back for the Thunderbirds clash, desperate to finish the pool games with a win.
Bruce was fired up from the get go, and despite her limited minutes managed five gains.
The Thunderbirds were shellshocked as Lightning seemed to have all the answers, eventually silencing the crowd as they snuck away two goal victors.
VICTORIA
Vixens were dominant from the first whistle against the Firebirds, taking the chance to put some valuable minutes into their young training partners, as Kiera Austin enjoyed a well-deserved break.
This gave Lily Graham the chance to show her wares, and despite coming up against a dominant Ruby Bakewell-Doran for much of the match Graham put in a strong performance to finish with eight from 11, and two super shots.
Melbourne Mavericks shot out of the blocks against understrength Sunshine Coast Lightning, capitalising on the inexperience of their opposition who were resting some of the big guns.
The mid court was electric, and shooter Shimona Jok was dominant under the post, finishing with 38/40.
Such was their lead heading into the final term that the Mavericks opted to rest all but one of their contracted 10 in favour of giving their training partners valuable court time.
Three super shots from the Mavs helped seal the deal on their 21-goal thumping.
Vixens continued their clinical day out against the West Coast Fever, but with a much more experienced line up.
The familiar face of Mwai Kumwenda, who shifted West following the birth of her son last year, gave the Vixens a scare with 4/4 supershots.
But it was youngster Olivia Wilkinson who put the nail in the coffin, with a penalty shot after the buzzer to hand Vixens their second one-goal loss of the weekend.
With lots of tired bodies, the Mavericks’ clash with the Giants was physical from the get go. Captain Amy Parmenter led from the front, going toe to toe with Jamie-Lee Price until she was sent from the court for two minutes after a late and deliberate contact.
It didn’t seem to disrupt the side, as they held on to their lead and ultimately finished with a one goal win.
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Originally published as Super Netball, Team Girls Cup: Thunderbirds, Fever, impress as Qld teams fight for wooden spoon
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