Home crowd plays its part

ROBYN EDIE/The Southland Times

THE PAIN: Southern Steel goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti is treated by physio Neil Familton after injuring her left knee in a heavy tumble right on the fulltime whistle of the clash with West Coast Fever.

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West Coast Fever coach Jane Searle said Southern Steel's parochial home crowd was integral in helping them to victory in last night's ANZ Championship opener at Stadium Southland.

Fever looked odds-on to register a surprise victory over Steel as they held on to a five-goal cushion early in the fourth quarter. Spurred on by Steel's vociferous home crowd, the southerners lifted their game to get home 46-44 in a thrilling match to kick off the opening weekend of the championship.

As Steel clawed their way back into the match late in the contest, the 2800-strong Stadium Southland crowd got louder with every intercept or turnover their side produced.

Searle said the home fans were so noisy, her team struggled at times to communicate out on court in the final quarter.

"The crowd probably had an influence. You can't hear instructions," she said.

Fever arrived in Invercargill only on Saturday night after a mammoth 5703km journey from Perth, which took more than two days. They kept up their intensity for the whole 60 minutes of the match, however, and showed little sign of jetlag.

Searle said fatigue was not to blame for their final-quarter meltdown, in which they were outscored 14-9.

"It's a long way to get here, but that's no excuse."

Steel coach Robyn Broughton said it was a game in which very little separated the two sides throughout the match.

"It was pretty tough the whole way. They were right on your back the whole game."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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