Moments that Mattered
Early in the second half, Jhaniele Fowler put through her 36th goal of the match to bring her tally of Suncorp Super Netball goals to 5,000. The milestone confirms her place as the competition’s greatest ever shooter. The milestone happened in front of a Fever regular season record crowd of 10,764 fans.
Alice Teague-Neeld also had reason to celebrate when she stepped onto the court for her 100th National League appearance. She instantly made an impact, recording the first Centre Pass Receive, first Goal Assist as well as an eye-catching Intercept.
Quarter by Quarter
Q1: WCF 20 | LIG 13
The game got off to a messy start with both sides forcing turnovers early. However, once the game settled, Fever found their groove and built a small lead. Verity Simmons made a welcome return to the side and from the first minute as she was able to hold possession and provide Fowler with nine assists.
The midcourt duo of Teague-Neeld and Jess Anstiss were instrumental, each getting an Intercept to give Fever a seven-goal advantage heading into the first break.
Q2: WCF 37 | LIG 27
The second quarter was another tight affair and after the Lightning begun the term with three straight goals, neither team could break the deadlock.
Courtney Bruce came alive in the second quarter, recording two Rebounds and three Deflections to keep her team ahead in the game. Her performance was crucial in punishing the Lightning’s mistakes as Fever had a first half gains to goal rate of 88 per cent compared to the Lightning’s 40.
It wasn’t until Sasha Glasgow with her ever consistent shooting scored two Super Shots in Power Five that Fever’s lead pushed into double digits.
Q3: WCF 55 | LIG 48
Fever got off to a hot start in the second half to push the lead out to 12 goals early in the quarter. However, Lightning weren’t going to fold under the pressure as they fought back throughout the quarter
Fowler brought the crowd to their feet as she sunk her 5,000th goal in SSN as her shooting prowess proved decisive as the game went on.
Lightning reduced the margin to four at the start of the Power Five but Glasgow did what she does best and sunk three Super Shots to push the margin back out to eight goals.
Q4: WCF 69 | LIG 65
Fever looked in control for most of the fourth quarter and brought the lead back out to 12 goals.
Lightning did not go quietly though, as the side managed to snatch back momentum and come dangerously close to stealing the win away.
Lightning international Steph Wood went into the Goal Shooter position in the final minutes of the game and scored three Super Shots to bring her team only three goals away. The lead ended up being just big enough for Fever to hold on as they wound down the clock while tensions were high.
With all four points coming Fever’s way, the team in green have locked in their place in the top four and finals. They now only sit two points away from the top two after the Thunderbirds’ shock loss against Collingwood.
Stats
Goals: Fowler 54 | Koenen 38
Super Shots: Glasgow 5 | Wood 5
Goal Assists: Teague-Neeld 25 | Wood 25
Feeds: Teague-Neeld 35 | Cassidy 47
Centre Pass Receives: Teague-Neeld 23 | Scherian 24
Deflections: Bruce 7 | Ervin 3
Gains: Bruce 4 | Ervin 3
Intercepts: Teague-Neeld, Aryang 2 | Cassidy, Ervin, Pretorius 2
Match Report By Oliver Lane
