Thunderbirds wrap

[Dogwatcher]

The Sydney TAB Swifts have opened their pursuit of a back-to-back Commonwealth Bank Trophy with a convincing 54-47 victory over the Medibank Adelaide Thunderbirds at the Sydney Sports Centre on Friday night. Seven months earlier at the same venue, the Swifts claimed their third Commonwealth Bank Trophy with a devastating 65-36 Grand Final victory over Adelaide, and at one point, it looked as though the win would be just as emphatic. Sydney established a 13-goal lead (36-23) in the third quarter on the back of some fine shooting from goal attack Susan Pratley and goal shooter Catherine Cox. And although the Thunderbirds rallied in the final quarter, slicing the deficit to six (46-40), the Swifts remained in charge to stretch their winning streak to 17 and claim their sixth-straight win over Adelaide. Pratley registered 26/26 (100%) in last year's Grand Final and was on course for another perfect haul after a flawless first half of 13/13. The Australian international eventually erred in the third quarter to finish with 22/23 (96%), while Cox was also in clinical form, netting 32/36 (89%). "It's a great start and hopefully we can keep it up," said Pratley. "We started off slow but we had patches where the whole team was intense and that's what got us clear." Adelaide coach Tania Obst was pleased with her side's performance but felt execution let them down at crucial points in the game. "We made some errors when we had opportunities to go on and get closer to the Swifts," she said. "But we showed a lot of character to stay in there and we can take plenty of positives out of this for the rest of the season." Natalie Medhurst converted 38/47 (81%) for the Thunderbirds but it was a miserable evening for team-mate Kristen Hughes, who had 9/21 (43%). The Thunderbirds led early (6-5) and their advantage would have been more convincing had Hughes converted any of her first three attempts. The Swifts soon found their rhythm, though, and charged into a 10-6 lead which they did not relinquish. Medhurst and Hughes improved from 9/14 (64%) in the first quarter to 13/17 (76%) in the second but that was not enough to rival Cox and Pratley, who hit 14/14 in the second quarter as Sydney opened up a nine-goal cushion (22-13). Adelaide managed to cut the gap to trail 27-22 at the main break but they were unable to take that momentum into the third quarter as the Swifts again stamped their authority on the game. The reigning champions registered eight consecutive goals to stretch their lead into double figures (36-23) while Adelaide floundered, converting just 8/15 (53%). The Swifts led 42-30 going into the final quarter and then 45-35, before the Thunderbirds gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a 5-0 run, but the Swifts recovered to cruise home and get their title defence off to a positive start. Scoreboard Swifts 54 (Pratley 22/23 at 96%, Cox 32/36 at 89%) Thunderbirds 47 (Medhurst 38/47 at 81%, Hughes 9/21 at 43%)