Queensland Firebirds have broken a year-long Super Netball home drought and celebrated their 30th anniversary in style with a stirring 77-66 Super Netball win over NSW Swifts.
The Firebirds trailed by seven on multiple occasions through the first half, but outscored the Swifts 20-14 in the third quarter of Saturday's clash at Nissan Arena.
That gave them a two-point lead and seven straight goals through the middle of the last quarter settled the contest, with the Firebirds winning the quarter 20-10.
After scoring 42 in the first half, the Swifts were restricted to just 24 in the second.
New Zealand defender Kelly Jackson spearheaded the Firebirds' second-half surge, finishing with three intercepts, four deflections and seven gains.
Mary Cholhok (63/66) was a tower of strength in the shooting department and Te Paea Selby-Rickit (9/10) kept the Firebirds in touch in the second quarter by hitting three Super Shots.
It was a first home win in nine games for Firebirds since round two on April 12 last year.
Both teams entered the game with a 1-4 record.
The Firebirds went into the game without three midcourters, with Macy Gardner (calf) and Imogen Allison (ankle) joining Maddy Gordon on the injury list.
They had two debutantes, with Jessie Laga’aia starting at centre and Sasha Flegler coming off the bench to play wing defence in the second and third quarters.
Samoan international Laga’aia played a full game and showed admirable composure, while veteran Lara Dunkley at wing attack never stopped running and working.
After an even start, the Swifts had runs of three and five unanswered goals to lead by four at quarter time.
They were up by seven on six separate occasions In the second quarter, but Selby-Rickit’s long-range barrage cut the gap to five at halftime.
Firebirds slammed on the first four goals of the third quarter and a 9-3 run at the start of that term propelled them into the lead.
NSW briefly regained the lead on two occasions, but couldn’t deal with the Firebirds' pressure down the stretch.
The home team had seven more gains, three more intercepts and four more deflections as well as five fewer turnovers and 21 less penalties.
The Swifts were also missing key personnel with internationals Sarah Klau, Paige Hadley and Helen Housby all unavailable again.
Grace Nweke (53/58) and Grace Whyte (10/15) did all the scoring for NSW.
