Netball: Frew helps Steel grab draw

Southern Steel goal attack Brooke Leaver looks up court as Adelaide Thunderbirds goal defence Amy...
Southern Steel goal attack Brooke Leaver looks up court as Adelaide Thunderbirds goal defence Amy Steel lurks during an ANZ Championship match at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin last night. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Wendy Frew has a reputation for never giving up and that famous tenacity paid off for the Southern Steel last night.

The experienced midcourter grabbed a late intercept to help her side avoid defeat and nab a 53-53 draw in its match against the Adelaide Thunderbirds at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin.

The game looked to have slipped out of reach when a pass sailed over the head of ace shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid.

That allowed the Thunderbirds to break the deadlock, and with 25sec remaining the visitors had the ball and led 53-51.

Game over, right? Wrong.

Frew got in the way, picking off the intercept she had been trying to make the entire match.

The Steel hustled the ball into the shooting circle.

Fowler-Reid took a knock and the game was delayed while she received medical attention.

She was replaced by Te Paea Selby-Rickit, but it was Brooke Leaver who made the shot to cut the deficit to one.

The Steel had about 18sec left to find an equaliser.

The Thunderbirds did their level best to make sure the ball did not make it back into play.

It certainly was not within the spirit of the game, but the Steel did eventually get the ball back into the shooting circle, where Selby-Rickit drilled a penalty to clinch a draw, much to the delight of a crowd of 1700.

''I don't know,'' Frew said when asked about her crucial play.

''You are trying to get ball the whole game, but when you get it at a time like that it is a nice relief. The girls stepped up [in the dying moments].''

''It was a great feeling, but in saying that I wished we would have won the game.''

Earlier, both teams turned the ball over too much in a sloppy opening quarter.

The link between Steel wing attack Gina Crampton and shooter Selby-Rickit was exposed by defender Amy Steel.

She anticipated beautifully to get in front of Selby-Rickit and picked off two intercepts.

The visitors led 15-12 at the break, but sent the odd pass west themselves.

The Steel was just a little predictable from the centre pass, with Shannon Francois the first receiver on most occasions during the first period.

Steel coach Janine Southby opted to make a change, with Leaver coming on for Selby-Rickit to help tidy up the fluency around the attacking circle.

The other change at that end happened when the visitors lost English defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers.

She took a heavy fall and was ushered off by the team physio with what looked to be a painful shoulder injury.

Goal keep Storm Purvis grabbed a crucial intercept with under 2min remaining in the half, which helped the Steel cut the gap to just one goal.

The Thunderbirds kept a one or a two goal buffer for the majority of the third period.

The Steel was more efficient on attack and was not losing the ball on the edge of the circle as it did earlier in the match.

The fourth quarter was a tense affair, with both sides trading goals.

The Thunderbirds guarded the ball jealously and the home side was not able to wrestle away possession - well, not until Frew got her hands on the ball.

 


ANZ Championship
The scores

Southern Steel                           53

Jhaniele Fowler-Reid 40 from 45, Brooke Leaver 8/11, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 5/7

Adelaide Thunderbirds               53

Carla Borrego 38/45, Erin Bell 15/21)

Quarter scores: 12-15, 26-27, 41-42 


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