Month: September 2021

Words By Kirralee Livingstone

USC Thunder’s sapphire series season has come to an end after losing the pre-lim final against QUT netball 59-48 last Wednesday at Nissan Arena.

The first quarter started strong for Thunder, with Annie Lawrie scoring the first goal of the game.

Unfortunately, a few minutes into the quarter, Chanel Dyer sustained an ankle injury which kept her off the court for the remainder of the game.

This loss shuffled the Thunder’s seven on the court also, moving Binnian Hunt to replace Dyer in WA, and bringing Chloe Bingham off the bench to play GS, moving Lawrie to GA.

The goals scored between both teams and its shooters were quite even, with the first quarter’s score being 14 all.

The second quarter was quite rough for Thunder, with the difference in Thunder’s goals versus QUT’s goals.

By around the mid to end of the first half, Bingham managed to get a triple, and Thunder levelled the playing field in terms of possession by the end of the half.

Thunder was still in a slight slump once the third quarter started, however after a few minutes the goals were being scored back and forth between the two teams.

Lawrie scored a double and then another double not long after.

The end of the quarter saw Lawrie score her third double for the game, wrapping up the quarter nicely.

The final quarter was a slower quarter for both teams, however seemed to be Thunder’s best, proving they fight to the very end.

A few minutes into the quarter Lawrie got a double and then another a few minutes later.

Bingham went hard in the dying minutes, as well as the countless turnovers from the likes of Ashlee Barnett and Lia Woolnough, which allowed Bingham to score an impressive five goals in a row.

In the end though it wasn’t quite enough to earn a place in the sapphire series grand final.

Nonetheless, Thunder played an outstanding season, despite injuries throughout the season and the adversities covid brought to the local sports competition.

They should be extremely proud of themselves for how far they came… now onto the preparation for the 2022 season.

Congratulations to USC Thunder!

 

Q1: QUT NETBALL 14- 14 USC Thunder

Q2: QUT NETBALL 34 – 23 USC Thunder

Q3: QUT NETBALL 49 – 34 USC Thunder

Q4: QUT NETBALL 59 – 48 USC Thunder

 

Thunder starting seven: GS Annie Lawrie, GS Binnian Hunt, WA Chanel Dyer, C Monique French, WD Chloe Litherland, GD Lia Woolnough, GK Ashlee Barnett

 

Substitutes: Sienna Allen, Chloe Bingham, Amy Metcalf

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sapphire Series or its clubs

 

 

Words By Kirralee Livingstone

After a month-long hiatus, USC Thunder has defeated USQ Jets 49-43 in a thrilling semi final match at Nissan arena last Sunday.

The game started off slow when it came to Thunder’s attack, however after only being behind for the first two minutes of the game, they led for the remainder of the game.

Binnian Hunt got the first goal for Thunder, with Annie Lawrie following suit by scoring a triple, and then one each between Hunt and Lawrie without interruptions.

Jets started to get on a roll in the middle of the first quarter, however Lawrie shut it down by scoring five consecutive goals.

Lawrie and Hunt had impeccable communication in the first quarter, however it didn’t translate as well into the following quarter.

The second quarter saw Lawrie and Hunt go back-to-back in two goals each, starting strong.

Unfortunately, Jets had a hot streak for a while, which seemed to influence Thunder to swap Lawrie out for Chloe Bingham.

Once Bingham was put on the court the momentum was getting harder to hold for both sides, and Bingham eventually scored a double towards the end of the first half.

The energy stepped up a level for the game into the second half, being arguably the more exciting half of this game between the Jets and Thunder.

Hunt started with a double, followed by nine goals throughout the third quarter scored by Bingham.

However, the rest of Thunder were exhilarating to watch as well, with intercepts and turn overs left right and centre.

Hunt and French were particularly defensively outstanding during the third quarter.

If you didn’t think the game could get more exciting, the final quarter was the grittiest and intense quarter of the game, down to the dying seconds.

Bingham started well with a triple, however after some visible exhaustion and several misses, Lawrie was put back on during the last quarter.

There was then push back by the Jets, making it seem like they may just take the game from Thunder.

This was until Hunt and Ashlee Barnett but their bodies on the line and kept giving Thunder the opportunity to secure the game with the final few goals.

Lawrie and Hunt successfully scored four goals between the two of them, wrapping up the semi final sudden death, with Thunder being victorious.

Although this game was a lower scoring game than usual for both USQ Jets and USC Thunder, it was an exhilarating netball match, and a fight to the end.

USC Thunder will now face off against QUT Netball in the pre-lim final this Thursday at Nissan Arena.

Good luck to USC Thunder in the pre-lim finals game!

 

Q1: USQ Jets 9- 13 USC Thunder

Q2: USQ Jets 24- 25 USC Thunder

Q3: USQ Jets 33- 37 USC Thunder

Q4: USQ Jets 43- 49 USC Thunder

 

Thunder starting seven: GS Annie Lawrie, GS Binnian Hunt, WA Chanel Dyer, C Monique French, WD Chloe Litherland, GD Lia Woolnough, GK Ashlee Barnett

 

Substitutes: Sienna Allen, Chloe Bingham, Amy Metcalf

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sapphire Series or its clubs