Updated
Adelaide Thunderbirds' composure under fire was the difference as they stormed to a 49-39 win over Melbourne Vixens on Sunday to secure a home trans-Tasman netball championship grand final.
The Thunderbirds displayed their characteristic never-give-in attitude to come from behind and snatch the major semi-final victory at Netball SA Stadium.
Despite being strangled by the Vixens early, a final-quarter burst of 18 goals to nine proved the Thunderbirds were a force to be reckoned with.
"Under pressure, you hope those things (spirit and composure) will be your default," coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson said.
"There was total composure the whole time. No one panicked even when we were one down at half-time ... We had total faith in what we had out there."
Melbourne star goal shooter Sharelle McMahon was placed into goal attack in the second term and the Vixens looked likely to run away with the game, outscoring the visitors 13 goals to eight, putting them 21-20 ahead at the main break.
Adelaide's midcourt was unable to feed the ball into goal shooters Carla Borrego and Erin Bell, with the two given no room by the Vixens defence of captain Bianca Chatfield and Geva Mentor.
Woodlands-Thompson credited captain Nat von Bertouch for her ability to take the game on and provide the much-needed run through the middle when the game was in the balance.
"Nat played a real captain's game and has been meticulous with her preparation and I've got a lot of confidence in this group," she said.
"I'm stoked. I knew we could do it and it's a testament to the courage and composure and the way this group plays as one."
Thunderbirds captain Natalie von Bertouch told Grandstand that she was pleased her side fought hard until the final whistle.
"That's something we've been really working on this year is to get that for the 60 minutes," she said.
"We know we come home strong and we know we've got the fitness to keep running out the full 60 minutes.
"It's huge credit to the girls that they were able to put that performance out for the whole 60 minutes today."
But von Bertouch took nothing away from the Vixens' efforts in the tense clash.
"They're a fantastic side and we know that they're going to come at us and come at us and we're going to come back at them," she said.
"That's just the momentum throughout the game and we had to just ride that out and make sure we weren't going to be second-guessing ourselves."
Melbourne Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said she was disappointed with her side's inability to maintain the momentum and finish off the game.
"We were in the game and doing some great stuff but, in the last quarter, our intensity dropped right off and we made some mistakes and we didn't play out the game," McKinnis said.
"You don't win these matches without a four-quarter quality performance."
Adelaide Thunderbirds have a week to recover, with the grand final set to be played at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday July 14.
The Vixens secured the double chance and will play Queensland Firebirds, who beat New Zealand's Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic 53-50 across the Tasman on Sunday evening.
ABC/AAP
Topics: netball, sport, adelaide-5000, sa, melbourne-3000, vic, australia
First posted
No comments:
Post a Comment