It seemed like a good idea at the time, but
the [Sponsor’s Name] Championship, est. 2008, comes to an end in favour of a
back-to-the-future eight-team all-Australian circuit. Whether this is for the
best remains to be seen, but the Queensland Firebirds and New South Wales
Swifts gave the grand old girl an almighty send-off with a thriller on the
polished floorboards of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
‘THEY MEET AGAIN’ screamed the Channel Ten
promo, reminding us that These Two Teams Faced Off In Last Year’s Decider. The
Swifts signalled their intentions with an interception from the first centre
pass, Caitlin Thwaites’ no-nonsense shooting putting them up 6-2 within five
minutes and 12-7 within ten.
But it was the shooting form of the
Firebirds’ goaler Romelda Aiken which surprised everyone unused to seeing the
tall Jamaican miss. Having shot for 87.5% in the season thus far, she looked
out of sorts, relying on her rebounding skills to mop up her missed shots and
even, in an interesting role reversal, handing the ball off to Gretel Tippett.
The Swifts’ territorial dominance wasn’t
translating into dominance of the scoreboard, and Laura Geitz marshalled her
defensive line to get the Firebirds back into the match. Tippett sank her first
score of the afternoon to put the hosts up 16-15 at the first change. By the
long break, Aiken had settled to twenty-six goals from forty attempts and the
Queenslanders led 29-27.
Just as the Swifts began the first half
with an interception, the Firebirds began the second in a similar fashion, a
coast-to-coast goal putting them three clear. Ahead 37-36 and in the tenth
minute of the third quarter, Aiken intercepted Sharni Layton’s lazy inbounds
pass and goaled. A see-sawing quarter saw the Swifts take the lead soon after,
and the denizens of the Siren City of the South led by one goal at lemon time.
The final term began with the
all-too-familiar sight of an Aiken-Layton aerial duel won by the Jamaican. The
next three Swifts attacks ended in interceptions or defensive rebounds, and the
Firebirds assumed a five-goal lead by the eighth minute. They led 54-51 with
just over a minute to go, but the Swifts weren’t done; midcourt turnovers and
Thwaites’ offensive rebounding got the three goals needed and we were headed to
extra time.
The Firebirds looked the likelier team
after the resumption, leading 61-59 at the changeover when Swifts coach Rob
Wright rolled the dice: centre Kimberlee Green came off for Paige Hadley, and
goal attack Susan Pettitt was replaced by Stephanie Wood. It worked for a
while: the Swifts led 63-62, and the score was tied at 66-all when Layton
denied Aiken an aerial ball; the resulting shot was missed by Wood.
That was the end of extra time, except that
it wasn’t: the match proceeded into a first-to-lead-by-two sudden death ‘double
extra time’. Gabi Simpson, one of the standout players for the Firebirds this
season, manufactured the crucial turnover, Aiken converting to end the contest
at 69-67, after sixteen minutes and forty-four seconds of extra time so
hardcore that Kellie Underwood twice described it as “pulsating”.
Where was the match won and lost? The home
side converted 69 of its 100 shots; i
rossoblu 67 from 84. Poor shooting was compensated for by Aiken’s twenty
rebounds and Tippett’s forty-seven shooting circle feeds constituted a textbook
performance at goal attack.
It’s one of the most shopworn sporting clichés, but netball was the real winner
here. The sport couldn’t have devised a more fitting way to launch next
season’s national competition.
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