By Madeline Irwin
The West Coast Fever kept the GIANTS winless start to the season going with a thumping 19-goal win in front of their home crowd at RAC Arena on Sunday.
The win came courtesy of a well-rounded team performance with Romelda Aiken-George (53 goals from 62 shots) and Sasha Glasgow (12 goals from 17 attempts) contributing heavily.
Glasgow also had 12 goal assists and 16 feeds, but it was their connection with Alice Teague-Neeld that was the key.
Teague-Neeld had an enormous influence, adding 32 goal assists and nine centre pass receives to a massive 60-feed game, Jordan Cransberg was also handy with 10 goal assists and 18 feeds.
In defence, Kadie-Ann Dehaney was instrumental in being able to keep the two-point threats at the GIANTS under control.
In a chaotic start to the contest, the Fever were able to steady to go seven goals up at quarter time. Their Suncorp Super Shot dynamo Glasgow was instrumental in their game, shooting two two-pointers to go with four goal assists and five feeds.
The GIANTS were outworked by the Fever all game, with the home side able to respond in emphatic fashion after an underwhelming performance last week by their lofty standards.
In her return from an ACL injury, GIANTS defender Jodi-Ann Ward was tasked with quelling the influence of Teague-Neeld who was the key for victory for the Fever. This was a crucial assignment due to the defensive-minded nature of the contest in the first half.
In the second quarter, it was the Fever that were at their most ruthless surging 14 goals ahead of the GIANTS. Defender Dehaney was crucial in her role, rattling the young attacking line of Sophie Dwyer and Lucy Austin, with the latter being benched in favour of Matisse Letherbarrow.
GIANTS shooter Lucy Austin
For the GIANTS, the half-time statistics were telling, with 68 per cent shooting accuracy, only 48 per cent of goals from their centre passes, along with 13 general play turnovers.
In contrast, the Fever were able to turn all their gains into goals and shot 71 per cent from their centre pass.
The Fever hit a twenty-goal lead halfway through the third quarter, which saw GIANTS coach Nerida Stewart call another time-out to calm her players. She demanded communication and connection, which was noticeably absent from their game.
The GIANTS were timid in the contest, lacking the confidence to be able to go for balls and shoot from two-point range with ease, as have been two hallmarks of the GIANTS’ game.
Going into the final term, the GIANTS managed 14 goals to the Fever’s 22, in the best quarter from the away team. The Fever were clinical, continuing to convert with 100 per cent gains to goal accuracy.
In encouraging signs for the GIANTS, Letherbarrow and Dwyer came alive in the final quarter, shooting 10 (from 11 shots) and five goals (at 100 per cent accuracy) respectively.
Fever head coach Dan Ryan will be slightly concerned with his side letting the GIANTS back into the contest in the final quarter, conceding 17 goals to their 14 goals in a messy display to end the game.
The Fever will fly to Sydney to face the NSW Swifts at Ken Rosewall Arena, while the GIANTS will look to get their first win against the winless Queensland Firebirds next weekend.
