Netball: Thunderbirds take 26 goal win over intimidated' Fever

West Coach Fever coach Norma Plummer said her young team were intimidated by the Thunderbirds. Photo / Mark McKeown

The Adelaide Thunderbirds built on their dominant record against Perth's West Coast Fever with a 26-point home victory in their ANZ Championship netball clash yesterday.

Coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson said it was the Thunderbirds' experience that gave them the edge and helped them to the victory that stretched their win-loss log to 10-1 over the Fever.

"Fever are a team that play on emotion and they are relatively inexperienced in their mid-court.

"We thought that if we got a good start that they may start to question, and they did that, and that set the accent for the rest of the game," Woodlands-Thompson said.

"I didn't predict that [the 26-goal deficit], but I was pretty comfortable going in.

"I thought our mid-court would have too much experience and they could control it, but I would've been happy with five goals."

The home side took control from the first centre pass, and defenders Rebecca Bulley and Sharni Layton proved too skilful for the Fever's Caitlin Bassett and Catherine Cox.

"It was very much a plan for our defenders and our attacks - it was the best game I've seen from Nat [von Bertouch] and Renae [Hallinan], and also Emily [Beaton] and Erin [Bell] with the up-court pressure," Woodlands-Thompson said.

"Bulley completely denied Cox the opportunity to score and that really helped."

West Coach Fever coach Norma Plummer said her young team were intimidated by the Thunderbirds.

"They have to get over the fact they are playing against name players - when you've got six Diamonds in a team like that, you are looking at one of the most experienced teams out there, and it's still a learning curve for our team," Plummer said.

"They will get there, but it's going to be a slower road."

Plummer said Thunderbirds GS Carla Borrego's accuracy hurt them early.

"They played a complete game, and Borrego was just outstanding.

"They've got to learn to handle the body-on-body, and the Thunderbirds did it very well."

The Thunderbirds have now crept up to third on the ladder, pending the outcome of the other matches, with the Fever slipping down to fifth.

Thunderbirds 72
Fever 46

-AAP