Bec 1Grand Final Result: Thunderbirds win their first title
July 11th 2010 10:07
The Adelaide Thunderbirds this afternoon recorded history as the third Australian team to win an ANZ Championship title.
In three years of the ANZ Championship, three out of the five Australian teams have now won a championship. None of the New Zealand teams have won a grand final despite the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic making the finals series each year and the grand final twice.
In the inaugural year in 2008, the NSW Swifts were victorious and the Melbourne Vixens won the title last year.
Today's grand final was a little disappointing with the Magic after a competitive start had a patch in the first quarter where they lacked intensity and faded out of the match, which ended up deciding the outcome of the game.
The last three quarters were virtually goal-for-goal.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds opted for Erin Bell over Kate Beveridge in the goal attack role, which helped dramatically to get them their first ever ANZ Championship title.
Another major contributer to the win was Geva Mentor's player-of-the-match winning performance in stopping the feeds into shooting sensation Irene van Dyk.
The Thunderbirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens in last year's grand final and weren't about to repeat history.
Inspirational for the Magic was Casey Williams.
With the exception of the last three games where the Magic performed brilliantly, statements must be made about the Kiwis' easier run into the grand final. If the Magic had to play each of the Australian sides twice in the season, like they do other Kiwi sides, then maybe they would have had the form necessary to win a grand final, IF they actually made it that far.
With a 10-goal margin deciding the grand final, it was very disappointing that the game was not a nail-biter like you would expect when the so-called two best teams go head to head in a final.
The final score was Thunderbirds 52 Magic 42. The Thunderbirds' Sharni Layton was announced the winner of the inaugural MARS Red Best Young Player award. Other nominees included Ellen Halpenny (Canterbury Tactix), Amy Steel (Queensland Firebirds), Kayla Cullen (Northern Mystics) and Leah Shoard (West Coast Fever).
ANZ has recently announced their support of the championship for the next three years so look out for the 2011 season!
There's still plenty of netball action left this year with the Australian Netball Diamonds to play Jamaica and New Zealand before the much-anticipated Commonwealth Games.
In three years of the ANZ Championship, three out of the five Australian teams have now won a championship. None of the New Zealand teams have won a grand final despite the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic making the finals series each year and the grand final twice.
In the inaugural year in 2008, the NSW Swifts were victorious and the Melbourne Vixens won the title last year.
Today's grand final was a little disappointing with the Magic after a competitive start had a patch in the first quarter where they lacked intensity and faded out of the match, which ended up deciding the outcome of the game.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds opted for Erin Bell over Kate Beveridge in the goal attack role, which helped dramatically to get them their first ever ANZ Championship title.
Another major contributer to the win was Geva Mentor's player-of-the-match winning performance in stopping the feeds into shooting sensation Irene van Dyk.
The Thunderbirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens in last year's grand final and weren't about to repeat history.
Inspirational for the Magic was Casey Williams.
With the exception of the last three games where the Magic performed brilliantly, statements must be made about the Kiwis' easier run into the grand final. If the Magic had to play each of the Australian sides twice in the season, like they do other Kiwi sides, then maybe they would have had the form necessary to win a grand final, IF they actually made it that far.
With a 10-goal margin deciding the grand final, it was very disappointing that the game was not a nail-biter like you would expect when the so-called two best teams go head to head in a final.
ANZ has recently announced their support of the championship for the next three years so look out for the 2011 season!
There's still plenty of netball action left this year with the Australian Netball Diamonds to play Jamaica and New Zealand before the much-anticipated Commonwealth Games.
| 93 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
