WA Sting Finish Third in the ANL
The WA Sting has capped its first ANL finals series appearance with a third place finish, after defeating The Queensland Fusion 51-48 in the bronze medal play-off at the Waverley Netball Centre in Melbourne.
Having lost their earlier semi-final to the Victory Fury, the Sting bounced back for a gutsy win over Queensland that was set up by a strong first quarter showing.
The Sting quickly gained momentum scoring the first three goals of the game, before they quickly increased that lead to 11-4 half way through the quarter. WAIS athlete and Sting wing defender Alicia Janz and her defensive teammates held up the Fusion attack well, whilst Queensland Captain Jacinta Messer was limiting WA’s attack but her team went into quarter time down 17-10.
Fusion coach Jenny Brazel injected some height into her attacking end in the second quarter with Candice Adams into wing attack and Sophie Croft taking the goal attack bib. Fusion scored the first few goals and used Baldwin’s height to their advantage. The Sting defence continued to make it difficult for the Fusion attack to go through the middle of the court with WAIS athlete Josie Janz taking some intercepts that her team were able to capitalise on. The Sting went into half time with a 27-21 advantage.
There were no changes to either side approaching the third quarter and the Fusion gained some momentum early to keep the gap at six goals. Messer made it difficult for WAIS scholarship holder Sarah East to find space in the circle, picking up on some crucial Sting turnovers to bring the three quarter time margin 41-36.
The Fusion put fresh legs into centre court as a last role of the dice, with Sally Butters contesting every ball in the fourth quarter. The margin didn’t stretch to more than three goals and the Fusion fought hard to bridge the gap. An injury concern to Josie Janz with five minutes to go didn’t faze the Sting, who maintained possession to secure a close three goal win (51-48).
Earlier: The first quarter of the match between Victoria Fury and the WA Sting showed the crowd that the game would not be easily won. Both teams came out firing and were tight throughout and it was a matter of which team would settle first.
Fury had the first two goals but the Sting’s midcourt made it difficult for the Fury to look into attack. Teagan Ashmore was though in WD for the Fury but the Janz sisters in GK and WD were standouts for the Sting. Fury led at quarter time 14-11.
Early in the second quarter it seemed that Fury would be the first to settle and they broke away with an 18-13 lead. The Sting came back and Janz was pivotal in goal keeper, matching up well on both Bailey and Knott. The Fury maintained a three goal lead at half time (25-22).
The Sting started well in the third quarter and narrowed the margin to two goals, with shooter Stacey Northey’s height being a crucial factor.
Fury then steadied halfway through the quarter with Micaela Wilson working out how to handle Northey. Kathleen Knott and Karyn Bailey remained cool under pressure helping the Fury to a 10-goal lead at three quarter time (42-32).
There was added pressure to the players with the stands scattered with ANZ Championship coaches and Australian underage coaches as the deadline looms for team lists to be finalised.
This didn’t faze the Fury who stepped it up in the last quarter. The Western Sting captain Janz remained steady in defence but in the end Fury were too good and ran away with a win 57-39.
-Netball Australia