Adelaide wins battle of the Birds

Coming off the back of two losses, the Adelaide Thunderbirds opened their account in the 2010 ANZ Championship with a battling 41-40 win over the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane today.

It was heartache for the home team, who were consigned to their third straight loss and a less than memorable result for Natalie Medhurst, who was up against her old team-mates for the first time.

Both teams lined up as expected with the exception of Erin Bell, who found herself in the unaccustomed position of wing attack for the Thunderbirds.

The bid backfired initially as the visitors found themselves all at sea on attack with a host of mis-guided passes and errors from their forward line. The Firebirds took full advantage of the turnovers with shooters Medhurst and Romelda Aiken providing the finishing to propel the home team to an early 6-1 lead.

Both teams were guilty of a scrappy opening which was marred by a high error rate but the visitors regrouped in the latter stages to reel in the deficit as the Firebirds headed into the first break of a low-scoring quarter with a narrow 9-8 lead.

There was a more purposeful effort from both sides on the resumption with Bell settling into her new role well and shooters Carla Borrego and Kate Beveridge gaining a better service for the Thunderbirds.

The visitors held the early momentum as they headed into the lead but were unable to gain the ascendancy as the Firebirds hung on grimly before staging their own comeback. Medhurst began to find space in the circle to set up the towering Aiken despite the best intentions of tenacious Thunderbirds defenders Geva Mentor and Mo’onia Gerrard.

The 1.93m Borrego had a fine first half, converting all but one of the Thunderbirds goals as the visitors went to halftime with the slimmest of leads at 23-22.

Again it was the Thunderbirds who held the early sway despite another scrappy start to the third quarter by both teams. Despite ample possession, poor finishing counted against the Firebirds while the visitors had no such problems with Borrego continuing her high standards.

Beveridge, doing a load of work outside the circle, also chimed in with a couple of important long-range shots to help the Thunderbirds maintain the slightest of edges.

On the other hand, the Firebirds were having all sorts of problems in their own shooting circle as Mentor and Gerrard swooped on errant shot-making to collect a number of valuable rebounds.

A more composed finish to the quarter by the home team prevented the score from ballooning out. Improved accuracy through court and on the shot kept the Firebirds well in contention as the Thunderbirds held a 34-31 lead heading down the home straight.

The injection of centre Jacqueline Russell energised the Firebirds, who scored the first five goals, in a scorching opening to the last
stanza. A rejuvenated Aiken, on the back of improved ball quality, found her radar to propel the home team into the lead while at the other end of the court defender Laura Geitz put the heat on the Thunderbirds shooters.

Every play became crucial as the teams battled a tight and intense final few minutes where the ball was turned over on numerous occasions leaving the outcome wide open.