Fever Fall to Firebirds

Published On: 27 April 2017

The conclusion of round nine of the Suncorp Super Netball saw the West Coast Fever defeated by the Queensland Firebirds for the second time this season in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Despite the loss the Western Australian side made improvements upon their previous meeting in round three, losing by five goals rather than the much larger margin of 13.

The opening seven minutes of the match saw an even contest between the two teams, the ball swinging back and forth between both ends.

In the latter half of the quarter the Firebirds put their foot down, scoring five goals in a row to enter the first break with a six goal lead. 

The second quarter saw this margin grow to ten before the Western Australian’s applied the pressure, reducing the margin to seven at the main break. 

Despite strong efforts from the visitors they were unable to make any in roads on the score board in the third term, instead the Queenslanders extending their lead by a further two goals heading into the final quarter.

Coming out with a new sense of energy the Fever scored the first two goals of the final quarter taking the margin back to seven.

The Fever continued to apply the pressure trimming the score line back to five with just half a quarter left to play. 

Unfortunately two offensive penalties stopped the Fever’s momentum, the final minutes of the term going goal for goal.

Although the Fever put forward a valiant effort, as the final whistle blew they found themselves defeated by five goals, 50 to 55.

West Coast Fever captain, Nat Medhurst said “we let them get too far in front early on, and that’s been the story of our season so far.”

“The inconsistency is killing us, but we did show what we are capable of and it would be nice to be able to do that for all four quarters.”

“The last quarter was really pleasing, but we need to be able to get those wins.”

The West Coast Fever have now returned to Perth where they are preparing for this Sunday’s clash against GIANTS Netball at HBF Stadium.

Their second clash against the New South Wales side for the season will also see Nat Medhurst play her 200th National League game.