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Emotion-fuelled Collingwood have concluded their seven-year Super Netball association in fairytale fashion, upsetting West Coast Fever 65-62 at Launceston’s Silverdome.
Super Netball
NSW Swifts 57 (Aiken-George 27 goals, Housby 11 goals) lost to Adelaide Thunderbirds 60 (Cardwell 24 goals, Austin 16 goals) at Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney
Magpies Netball vs West Coast Fever at the Silverdome, Launceston
Playing their last ever game following last month’s announcement that they would be withdrawing from the competition at the season’s end, the Magpies dominated the third quarter, following a tight half, before holding off the Fever’s best efforts in the fourth.
The shock boilover, following the Adelaide Thunderbirds’ surprise win over the NSW Swifts in Sydney earlier in the evening, means West Coast, the reigning champions, will finish third on the ladder.
They will take on the fourth-ranked Melbourne Vixens in next Sunday’s sudden-death minor semifinal.
The Swifts and Thunderbirds will lock horns again in next Saturday’s major semi, the winner advancing to the grand final on July 8 at John Cain Arena.
Sophie Garbin and Shimona Nelson were damaging in Collingwood’s shooting circle, Kelsey Browne magnificent with her classy corridor feeds and retiring co-captain Ash Brazill, playing her final game, as tough as ever in the centre.
“So good to finish like that,” Garbin said.
“Just super proud of the girls, it was such a team effort.
“The last couple of weeks have been crazy for all of us.
“And to send ‘Brazzy’ [Brazill] out like that, she’s been amazing for this group and I love her so much.”
Brazill was superb early, forcing opposition pivot Verity Simmons into three first-quarter turnovers as the Pies led narrowly at quarter time, 16-15.
The Fever levelled things up at half-time, 32-32, and the scores were still locked away deep into the third term before Collingwood’s 5-0 burst inspired an 11-4 run down the stretch to lead 51-44 at three-quarter time.
Nelson scored 17 without a miss for the stanza while West Coast racked up 27 penalties for the term, captain Courtney Bruce and fellow defender Kim Jenner the chief offenders with nine each.
Jhaniele Fowler caught fire in the fourth and Alice Teague-Neeld stepped up with some big plays at wing attack as the Fever squared it up with four minutes to play, before Collingwood, riding a wave of emotion, iced victory with another withering 5-0 burst.
The Magpies finish their Super Netball history with 36 wins, 62 defeats and three draws from their 101 matches.
Earlier the Adelaide Thunderbirds snapped the NSW Swifts’ nine-game winning streak and given their own Super Netball prospects a shot in the arm ahead of the finals with a gripping 60-57 victory.
The Thunderbirds were immense down the stretch, snapping their two-match losing skid and securing their first win against the Swifts at Ken Rosewall Arena since 2013.
Latanya Wilson (14 deflections, 10 gains, three intercepts) was inspirational, switching between goal defence, goal keeper and wing defence, while fellow Jamaican backcourter Shamera Sterling conjured two huge intercepts and a big rebound in the dying moments.
“Words cannot explain how I’m feeling,” Wilson grinned.
“I’m super happy with that performance. I believe in my team.
“It was about going back to the drawing board, correcting those errors that we’d been making in previous games. And we did bloody awesome today.”
Wilson was on song from the outset, but so was Diamonds defender Sarah Klau at the other end as the Swifts, with Helen Housby goaling on the quarter-time siren, edging ahead by two at the first break.
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst threw the magnets around in the second term and the wholesale changes seemed to put the home side off.
Wilson racked up eight first-half gains, silencing NSW skipper Paige Hadley when moved up to wing defence and helping Adelaide pinch a 32-29 half-time lead.
Hadley’s co-captain, Maddy Proud, stepped up in the third, and a flurry of goals down the stretch on the back of a couple of Thunderbirds turnovers saw the scores tied at three-quarter-time.
The final term was goal for goal before Sterling, who shrugged off a first-half ankle scare, came up with some huge defensive plays to mastermind a late 8-2 rally to ensure NSW’s first defeat since early April.
AAP
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