A second-quarter blitz from the West Coast Fever was too much for the Canterbury Tactix as the Australians powered away to a 50-44 win in their 13th round trans-Tasman netball championship clash in Perth today.
Although the Cantabrians battled back in the third quarter to trail by just five with 15 minutes remaining, the Fever regained composure to grind out their first home win of the competition.
Veteran midcourter and captain Julie Seymour said the team were disappointed to fall short in their fightback.
"We came here and we wanted a win - it's been a while since we had one," Seymour said afterwards.
"For three-quarters of the game we stuck to our game plan and did well. That second quarter really let us down - it killed us." The Tactix started strongly, with shooter Rachel Dunn relishing some accurate long-range feeding from her midcourt to edge the Cantabrians out to a mid-quarter 11-7 lead.
But the introduction of goal keep Susan Fuhrmann in an injury break shut Dunn down, and the Fever fought back to take the lead 16-15 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Fever, with midcourters Stacey Rosman and Karen Atkinson running strongly and finding shooters Caitlin Bassett and Nikala Smith at will. Bassett sunk 40 from 48 attempts for an 83 percent success rate, while Smith managed 10 from 16 for 63 percent.
At the other end of the court, Fever defenders Ama Agbeze and Fuhrmann kept the pressure on Tactix shooters Dunn and Anna Thompson, restricting them to just five goals for the entire quarter.
Dunn sank 11 from 17 attempts for a decidedly ordinary 65 percent success rate, while Thompson was slightly more consistent with 17 from 24 for 71 percent.
Seymour underlined her value and versatility, starting at wing defence but answering coach Helen Mahon-Stroud's call at halftime for more penetration by switching to centre.
In other Tactix halftime adjustments, Dunn was replaced by Hayley Stockman in the shooting circle. Stockman proved the most successful of the Tactix shooters with 16 from 21 attempts for a 76 percent success rate.
Phillipa Finch moved from centre for the Tactix to wing defence and Victoria Smith came on at goal defence for Bessie Manu.
The changes paid dividends immediately. Silver Ferns Seymour and Bowden provided some intelligent feeding into their shooters for the Tactix to sink the first six goals of the third quarter before the Fever troubled the scorers again.
The Australians struggled to find cohesion for the rest of the quarter, leading 40-35 at the three-quarter break.
But helped by some powerful rebounding from Fuhrmann and Caitlin Bassett's accurate shooting, the Fever battled valiantly over the final minutes as the Tactix closed again, holding on to secure the win. The result left the Tactix eighth in the standings on 10 points one spot ahead of the Fever who have five points.
NZPA WGT cw
