The Adelaide Thunderbirds remain Super Netball’s team to beat after the back-to-back premiers claimed the official Team Girls Cup title on Sunday.
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The Tbirds came from eight goals down at half time to steal victory from the West Coast Fever, with star Georgie Horjus landing the match winner with just 2 seconds left on the clock.
The TGC win means Adelaide are now aiming to become the first team to defy the curse and go on to win the pre-season/Super Netball crown double.
“What an incredible turnaround in the second half,” Fox Netball’s Emily Beaton praised.
“The team in pink pulling out all the stops,” Cath Cox added.
The 38-37 win was made more remarkable by the fact the Thunderbirds were missing their Jamaican bookends in Romelda Aiken-George and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey for the decider.
Fever young gun Olivia Wilkinson, who was arguably the player of the tournament, had opted to take the one-point goal on offer with less than a minute to play to tie scores.
And it looked like the match would head to overtime when Kayla Graham looked to have pushed the pass to wide for teammate Sophie Casey on the circle edge in those dying moments.
But Casey’s incredible effort to not only save the ball, but find teammate Lauren Frew in the circle proved the difference as Frew calmly opted for Horjus to take the shot and seal victory.
“We knew we could come back … we had the trust in each other,” Horjus said post-match.
“This is hopefully a warm up for the season.”
Teammate Latanya Wilson was named grand final MVP for her incredible efforts in defence.
Wilson racked up a whopping five intercepts, six deflections and two rebounds to prove the difference in Sunday’s final at Netball SA Stadium.
Despite being down at the main break, Adelaide rallied in the third to close within four goals at the final break.
And with their home crowd cheering them on, they outscored the Fever 11-6 in the last term.
While the one-goal loss was the first for the Fever for the entire Team Girls Cup tournament, there was still plenty of positives to take for the side who many questioned would fare without superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
But Wilkinson showed there is plenty to look forward to, while the Aryang sisters Sunday and Ruth proved a tough combination for the Perth side in defence.
In the other matches on Sunday, the NSW Swifts finished in third with their 51-49 win over the Melbourne Mavericks.
The Melbourne Vixens claimed fifth when they easily accounted for the Giants 47-34.
And the Queensland Firebirds finished the weekend without a win as they went down to the Sunshine Coast Lightning 41-43.
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