West Coast Fever lost by one goal in a thriller against NSW Swifts during Round 9 of the Suncorp Super Netball season at John Cain Arena in Melbourne.
Trailing by nine goals at three-quarter time, Alice Teague-Neeld led a spirited come-back for Fever with timely intercepts and three consecutive Suncorp Super-Shots to cut the margin back to a solitary goal in the final minutes of the game.
Knowing that super-shots would be the difference, Fever coach Stacey Marinkovich moved Sasha Glasgow into Goal Shooter for Jhaniele Fowler and she also hit her third super-shot of the game as Fever clawed their way back into the contest.
However, Swifts were able to remain composed and soak up the final seconds on the clock to hold on for a 66-65 win.
Neither side showed any signs of making a slow start despite a less than ideal preparation, which included a dash to Victoria on Tuesday and most of the week confined to hotel rooms.
Fever captain Courtney Bruce picked up where she left off in Fever’s last game three weeks ago, collecting three gains in the first quarter to repel the Swifts attack, while Glasgow, Verity Charles and Jess Anstiss helped set up 18 first quarter goals for Fowler to build a 19-14 quarter-time lead.
Both sides made some unexpected errors to start the second quarter and the Swifts capitalised to reduce the margin and then push ahead by three goals, outscoring Fever by eight in what ultimately proved to be a very costly quarter.
Sophie Garbin moved into Goal Shooter for the Swifts after some uncharacteristic misses by Sam Wallace and had an immediate impact, scoring 11 of her 31 goals for the game to change the dynamic in the circle for her side and set up a 35-32 lead at half-time.
The arm-wrestle continued in the third quarter but some inaccurate passing from Fever resulted in turnovers and Swifts increased their lead, with Helen Housby scoring three Suncorp Super-Shots to extend the margin to nine goals at three-quarter time and set a big challenge for Fever.
Fever changed up their mid-court for the final quarter, with Emma Cosh entering the game at Wing Attack, Charles moving to Centre and Anstiss back to Wing Defence.
The new combination and a lift in intensity cut the margin back to six goals with five minutes remaining.
Teague-Neeld’s first super-shot reduced the Swifts’ advantage to four and when Glasgow scored from long range minutes later the margin was back to three.
Teague-Neeld scored another two super-shots but Garbin continued scoring at the other end to keep her side in front for a final score of 66-65.
