Netball: Firebirds edge Fever in thriller

Shooter Romelda Aiken continued her strong form for the Firebirds against the Fever last night. Photo / Getty Images

BRISBANE - The Queensland Firebirds have leapt into the top four of the transtasman netball championship with a 56-53 comeback victory over the West Coast at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

The Firebirds, who squandered significant leads in the first two quarters, had to fight back from a five-goal deficit in the final term to post their third straight win in the competition.

Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken was again a star for the home side as she netted 46 goals at 82 per cent with powerful Fever defender Susan Fuhrmann making her work extremely hard all night.

The turning point in the contest came with Firebirds defender Demelza McCloud making a crucial intercept in the West Coast circle with four minutes to go.

It sparked a five-goal streak from Queensland, with Aiken pulling down several customary high bombs.

"It was an awesome fightback," said Firebirds coach Vicky Wilson. "In the last four minutes we showed great tenacity."

Although the Fever were desperately disappointed to have given up their 46-41 advantage, the tight match, a week after upsetting the defending champion NSW Swifts, proved the Perth outfit are no longer Australian netball's weakest link.

After winning just two matches last season, they were just a couple of plays away from a fourth straight win and equal third on the table.

Goalers Caitlin Bassett (32 goals at 86 per cent) and Bianca Franklin (20 at 90) didn't deserve to be on a losing team as they frustrated the home defence all night and it was only when Wilson moved Clare McMeniman to goal defence to mark Franklin did they battle.

Queensland's triumph gives them a 3-2 record and moves them ahead of the Fever (3-3) and the Southern Steel (3-2) who had jumped into fourth earlier Monday night with a 61-52 away win over the Mystics in Auckland.

Coming off a landmark victory over the Waikato-BOP Magic, the Firebirds were hot early, blowing out to an 8-2 lead as the Fever let themselves down with a string of stray long passes into the circle.

They managed to fight their way back to 13-10 at quarter-time as Aiken started to miss a rash of gettable shots near the post.

The second quarter was a virtual carbon copy with the home side racing out to an eight-goal lead before the West Coast fought back to 26-24 down at the main break.

"In the first half we had so many opportunities to push the lead out and we just weren't ruthless enough," Wilson said.

"They were super-quick and were effective in slowing our ball down. "

- AAP