A clinical Queensland Firebirds have broken through for their first Suncorp Super Netball win of the season, after a comprehensive 12 goal victory over West Coast Fever.
The 69-57 result also doubled as the Queensland’s side first win at their home, Nissan Arena.
The Firebirds once again produced their best form against the West Australians, with today’s victory breaking a string of Super Netball defeats dating back to their 68-62 win over Fever in Round 13 last season.
The result reinforced Queensland’s unbeaten record against West Coast, having recorded six wins and one draw against them since Super Netball's inception in 2017.
Head Coach Roselee Jencke OAM expressed her pride in the performance.
“It’s been a long time coming and a lot of hard work and perseverance from this entire group, both on and off the court,” Jencke said.
“We’ve never doubted ourselves, but it was about playing our brand of netball for a full four quarters which we did for the first time this season.”
“We worked really hard on specific things this week and to the credit of the entire team they executed on everything we asked of them.”
“I’m just thrilled for the players, the staff and most importantly our members that we’ve finally been able to crack a win on our home court.”
The Fever made a flying start led by international shooter Jhaniele Fowler, taking a 6 goal lead early in the first quarter.
A purple patch from the Firebirds reduced West Coast’s quarter-time advantage to just two goals, before their most dominant quarter of the season to date took the game away from Fever.
Player of the Match Romelda Aiken cashed in with 13 goals as Queensland side held the highest-scoring team in the league to nine goals in the second term to take a 33-25 lead into halftime.
Fever threatened to make a run in the third quarter when Fowler poured in five consecutive goals, but the Firebirds absorbed the pressure, with an Aiken buzzer beater maintaining a 7 goal advantage at the final break.
A 6-3 opening to the fourth quarter all but sealed victory for the Firebirds, as rising star Tippah Dwan kicked off the celebrations with a Super Shot to extend the lead to 14 goals.
A late flurry of two pointers from Fever was in vain as the Queensland side sailed to a comfortable win in front of their loyal Purple family.
The Firebirds now turn their attention to a Round 7 assignment against GIANTS Netball at Nissan Arena on Tuesday night, as they look to make it two wins in a row and improve on their drawn result against the Sydney side in Round 4.
