By Caitlin Greenwood
The NSW Swifts have mounted a stunning final-quarter comeback to snatch a dramatic 66-64 win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds at Ken Rosewall Arena.
It was a fiery opening contest in front of a sea of red-clad fans, as Grace Nweke got the Swifts off to a flying start, scoring the first two goals to give the home side an early 4-1 lead. However, the visitors clawed back to level the score at 6 apiece, as Latanya Wilson began to unsettle Nweke with tight defensive pressure.
Swifts’ Maddy Turner made a stunning intercept, though the ball quickly changed hands as Adelaide's Hannah Petty made one of her own before Sarah Klau capped off a frantic exchange.
A slick passage from Nweke, Paige Hadley, and Helen Housby resulted in the first super shot of the match.
At the end of a tightly contested quarter, the Swifts held a narrow 19-17 lead.
The Thunderbirds came out firing in the second quarter, drawing first blood and quickly establishing dominance with a 9-3 start. Both teams threw themselves into a frantic defensive battle, but it was the Tbirds who gained the upper hand, thanks to relentless pressure from Wilson.
Lauren Frew worked tirelessly on the outside, while Romelda Aiken-George drew double defenders and still managed to convert. Petty was instrumental for Adelaide, leading the feeds and driving the attack. With tensions rising, both sides looked to the umpires for clarity, but the match demanded leadership on court.
The Swifts began to unravel, their usual smooth connections faltering under intense pressure. Coach Briony Akle called a tactical timeout, urging her side to "do some hard work." Changes followed, with Teigan O’Shannassy replacing Klau, and Grace Whyte brought on at goal attack in place of Housby.
Despite the adjustments, the Thunderbirds were clinical, boasting a 100 per cent gain-to-goal conversion rate for the quarter as Aiken-George became the second player to surpass 9,000 national league goals. The visitors stormed to a commanding 19-9 quarter, heading into halftime with a 36-28 lead, marking the first time this season the Swifts have been held to single digits in a quarter.
With a mountain to climb, the Swifts came out of halftime determined to stay in the contest, opening with a 4-1 run. But just as momentum began to swing, the Tbirds regrouped, and the quarter settled into a tense battle.
Housby continued to struggle, kept quiet by the relentless Garrett, who maintained her stranglehold in defence. Despite the Swifts’ fast start, the Thunderbirds pulled ahead midway through the quarter to extend their lead to 10. Tayla Williams was injected into the game for Petty, offering fresh legs through the midcourt.
Questions lingered over the absence of Allie Smith, a proven impact player for the Swifts this season, who had yet to see court time. However, the Swifts’ defensive intensity began to lift, sparking a late surge. Housby finally found her rhythm, nailing several super shots to breathe life into her side.
Wilson was solid in defence, causing havoc for the Swifts attack.The home side edged the quarter 19-14, clawing back valuable ground, but it was the visitors who remained in control, holding a three-goal lead heading into the final term.
A game-changing intercept from Maddy Turner early in the fourth ignited the crowd and sparked the Swifts into action, as they surged to a 6-1 start and reclaimed the lead for the first time since the opening quarter.
After a stepping call against the Swifts and a five-goal run from the Thunderbirds saw them edge back in front as the Power Five began, the Swifts held their nerve. A crucial tip from Housby led to a Swifts goal, and her later super shot pushed the home side ahead by two.
Although a penalty by Klau briefly allowed the Thunderbirds to level the scores, she quickly redeemed herself with a vital turnover.
In the final minutes, the Swifts drained the clock to emerge on top.
"I'm most proud of the fact that we were eight down, and we were able to fight back and challenge," said Akle post-match.
"Nine goals for a quarter is not good for this league, so for us it's about being able to move the ball, which I don't think we were doing that good a job of. Credit to the Thunderbirds — their defence was excellent. They came here with a game plan, and it took us too long to work it out."
Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst acknowledged the challenge of the atmosphere and credited her team’s early composure, while lamenting the missed opportunity.
"I thought it was a really great effort to come into a large crowd (that’s not cheering for us) and really sit within our own bubble. Our second quarter was fantastic, but we weren’t able to get it done tonight."
"I think defensively we were slowing down a little bit and we needed to stick it out. In the forward line I think we weren't playing to our structures, and it was our own mistakes that we were making."
Obst also provided clarity around midcourt leader Hannah Petty’s limited minutes.
"She is not well, no. She didn't train on Thursday. She did captain’s run Friday and she wasn’t great at halftime today. We tried to get as much as we could out of her before she had a rest before she came out in that last quarter."
