ANZ Championship: NSW Swifts race to record victory over understaffed Adelaide Thunderbirds

RECORDS tumbled for the second time in eight days for the NSW Swifts who recovered from their worst start of the season for their most emphatic victory ever over the Adelaide Thunderbirds.

SWIFTSD NETBALL GAME

• What we learned from ANZ champs rd1
• Who starred in ANZ champs rd2
• A netball debut to remember
• Netball guide: What you need to know

RECORDS tumbled for the second time in eight days for the NSW Swifts who recovered from their worst start of the season for their most emphatic victory ever over the Adelaide Thunderbirds in nine years of ANZ championship battles.

The Swifts protected their new status as top guns of the ANZ championship with a 68-44 victory in their third successive home game at Sydney Olympic Park.

And the whopping 24-goal margin could have been higher if not for a less than convincing start from the star-studded Swifts who were actually trailing the Thunderbirds early in the match and leading by just a goal at the end of the first stanza.

“They are a quality side despite that margin and they showed that in the first period,’’ admitted shooter Susan Pettitt who left the court after scoring 19 from 23 during her time on the court.

“Never at any stage did it feel like the margin was so big. It was really quite intense.”

What ended up as a demolition started as a goal-for-goal encounter before a second quarter surge put the Swifts back on the road to victory with the club then outscoring the Thunderbirds 19-11, 20-10 and 18-12 for their monster win.

By game end only two of the starting seven remained on the court as coach Rob Wright used the opportunity to give time to his bench.

The Swifts are 3 from 3 to start the season

“That was one of the most pleasing things, having all 12 players out there again this week,’’ Pettitt said.

“We are about to head out onto the road and it’s nice to know we can send anyone out without missing a beat.”

The victory came after the Swifts recorded their biggest ever score and the second biggest goal winning margin in the history of the league with their 78-50 defeat of the Vixens last weekend.

It came two weeks after the Swifts set a record for the most rookies to play in a match with coach Rob Wright blooding four players in their second biggest ever win over the Melbourne Vixens.

New Zealand international Laura Langman, in only her third game for the Swifts, claimed MVP of the match.

Caitlin Thwaites topscored for the side with 34 goals from 39 attempts with rookie Steph Wood scoring 11-15 and Amy Sommerville scoring four from five.

Originally published as ANZ Championship: NSW Swifts race to record victory over understaffed Adelaide Thunderbirds