Madeline Irwin
The Queensland Firebirds have notched up their second win of the season, with an impressive 11-goal win over the NSW Swifts.
Both teams entered the contest missing key players.
Debutant Jessie Laga’aia started in centre putting out a full 60-minute performance for her side. She came into the team with both Macy Gardner and Imogen Allison injured.
Laga'aia recorded 17 goal assists and 27 feeds, along with an intercept.
Sasha Flegler also made her debut, playing a smaller role at wing defence during the contest.
The game was played in two halves, with the NSW Swifts getting the hot start leading 20 to 16 goals at quarter time.
The key to the Swifts' success in that half was Grace Whyte. Her combination with Grace Nweke in the circle, is a fresh but efficient one, with Whyte shining for the Swifts across the game.
Firebirds coach Kiri Wills noticed her effect on the contest and switched Ruby Bakewell-Doran onto Whyte, which was more effective.
After going goal for goal for much of the first quarter, the Swifts got ahead seven goals to nine, when the Firebirds attempted to take some risky avenues to the circle.
To end the quarter, NSW had a run of five unanswered goals which gave them a decent lead, before Mary Cholhok scored one on the siren to further cut it down.
For Whyte to have the influence she did, it was the work of Maddy Proud and Tayla Fraser out in front of her that assisted her in feeding Nweke.
In the first half, the midcourt was a concern for the Firebirds, due to the new combination of Laga'aia, Dunkley and Bakewell-Doran or Flegler at times.
However, Queensland fought back during the third quarter after being five goals down.
Roaring back into the game, they drew level with the Swifts with nine minutes left in the quarter, pulling ahead with a Cholhok goal.
Katrina Rore was then introduced for a short stint after Sharni Lambden was taken off. This was due to the dominance of Lara Dunkley, who stood up as a leader and was an experienced head on court.
In the game she amassed 29 goal assists, 18 centre pass receives and one deflection.
The game was poised to finish tightly, but a 20 to 10 goal final quarter from the Firebirds saw them take a convincing victory in front of an elated home crowd.
The Swifts will look to rebound against their NSW rivals, the GIANTS next Saturday, while the Firebirds will look to continue their winning ways against the Mavericks at home.
