Swifts pound Kestrels

The Sydney Swifts have defeated the Melbourne Kestrels 60-41 in the second game of the double header at Vodafone Arena tonight.

The match had virtually the entire Australia Test team who will take the court on Wednesday night against New Zealand playing for the Swifts. Sydney's team in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy were simply too strong for the Kestrels despite coach Jane Searle rotating her players on a regular basis.

The first half saw the Swifts in front 32-19 over the Kestrels, shooters Catherine Cox and Megan Anderson easily outplayed the Kestrels back half that featured promising youngster Sharni Layton.

So dominant were the Swifts that Cox and Anderson dashed any hopes the Kestrels had of a comeback, in the second half, with a strong and powerful attacking display inside the circle.

Cox scored 35 goals from 38 attempts at an amazing 92%, while Anderson shot at 83% with 25 from 30. Both players will be pleased with time on court ahead of the Test match this week.

Defenders Sarah Barett and Mo'onia Gerrard both played excellent games, each contributed to the strong Swifts mid-court, an area that the Kestrels struggled in despite having veteran Shelley O'Donnell playing her first full game of the season.

For the Kestrels, Narelle Garbutt was relentless in defence and Chelsea Nash impressed playing at wing attack as well spending the last quarter in the forward circle.

Kestrels coach Jane Searle, "I was happy with the margin, it was closer compared to when we played Swifts last time. Our mid-court struggled due to a few bad passes out of the centre, this is something we need to work on."

Kestrels captain Cynna Neele, who shot 25 goals from 29 attempts at 86% and was dropped from the Australian team earlier this week, gave a strong message to the selectors.

Coach Searle agreed with this, "Cynna was great tonight and hopefully she can be consistent to put pressure on getting back into the Aussie squad."

Talking about O'Donnell, Searle added, "Shelley played her first full game tonight and it was good to see her out giving the younger ones plenty on court encouragement."

Next week, the Swifts are back at home against the Queensland Firebirds on Friday night, while the Kestrels host the Perth Orioles at the SNHC on Saturday night.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!