The Queensland Firebirds have made an impressive start to their 2021 pre-season trial campaign, with a clinical 58-50 victory over the Sunshine Coast Lightning at the Morayfield Sports Centre.
With intensity that defied the usual pace and physicality of a pre-season game, the Queensland rivals forced the best out of each other in an exciting first encounter of 2021.
Firebirds Head Coach Megan Anderson was pleased with the progress of her side in both their, and her opening game in purple colours.
“There were a lot of positives tonight in terms of the players trying new things each session and building into their games individually, as well as combining really well as a team,” Anderson said.
“We didn’t have any expectations, it was just about setting a benchmark and putting all those things we’ve been practicing into play in a match environment.”
“Every individual did their job and we were able to adapt the game plan depending on who was out their at any one time, so to see them execute on that was really pleasing.”
The first 4 goals of the game handed the Firebirds an early lead courtesy of slick ball movement through the midcourt which defied the expectations of this stage of the pre-season.
The tried-and-true combination of Ravaillion to Aiken resumed right where it left off in 2016, aided by the outstanding circle work of Mia Stower, drawing her defender from the post.
The battle between Rudi Ellis and Peace Proscovia headlined the first session though, with the book ends equally sharing the honours as the two teams headed to the first break drawn.
New Firebirds Training Partner Reilley Batcheldor was introduced into the goal circle to start the second session and looked immediately at home, with the young shooter dropping three early goals to give her side the ascendency.
The two sides traded goals and defensive turnovers across an intense second session, with scores again locked at 17 a piece heading into the break.
Coach Megan Anderson went to her bench to start the third term, showing the full extent of the Firebirds depth through both the midcourt and shooting circle.
The handful of changes had little bearing on the team’s continuity though as the intensity took another step up in the third term, with the teams registering 10 goals each to be locked again at the halfway point of the game.
Lightning took the upper hand with 3 of the first 4 goals of the second half, only for the momentum to swing again as the Firebirds regained the lead midway through the term.
The passionate purple family in attendance at the Morayfield Sports Centre also got a glimpse into the future, with the Firebirds youngest line-up of the night dominating a fast paced fourth term to take a one goal lead to the break.
The two sides couldn’t be separated through the opening minutes of the fifth session, exchanging a series of defensive turnovers which saw a prolonged period of minutes without a goal scored.
The Firebirds pre-season conditioning was on full display as they found another gear halfway through the session and rode a wave of momentum to take a two-goal lead to the final break.
A clinical opening to the final term consolidated the Firebirds lead, with full court defensive pressure strangling Lightning’s ability to score.
Buoyed by their defensive efforts the Firebirds applied further scoreboard pressure to extend their lead to an insurmountable 8 goal buffer, eventually securing a 58-50 victory in their first hit out of 2021.
