The Adelaide Thunderbirds went down to the unbeaten West Coast Fever 55-50 in Perth on Sunday but coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson remains confident the 2013 champions can still make a run to the trans-Tasman netball competition finals.
The Fever overran the Thunderbirds in the final quarter at HBF Stadium, leaving West Coast on top of the competition with four wins and a draw.
Despite a decent defensive effort from Eboni Beckford-Chambers to on Caitlin Bassett (40 goals from 44 attempts) the Thunderbirds couldn't capitalise in attack with some poor turnovers and lacklustre shooting from Carla Borrego (35 from 45) and Erin Bell (15 from 23).
It leaves the Thunderbirds with just one win from five matches.
Woodlands-Thompson is looking forward to building form in coming weeks against some of the lesser teams in the competition, starting next Sunday against the Queensland Firebirds.
"We could have won it today. We were right in touch and we only went down by five while making some ridiculously stupid errors in and around the goal circle," Woodlands-Thompson said.
"We are in touch still. You only have to be top three. We played the top team this week, we played the top team last week and we played the top team from New Zealand the week before."
While the Thunderbirds have work to do, things are going swimmingly for the Fever, rookie coach Stacey Rosman yet to taste defeat.
Rosman is already looking ahead to the challenge of hosting the defending champion Vixens on Easter Monday.
"We broke the season down into blocks of three so this is the last one of our three against Australian teams. If you are going to look at hard defensive efforts, intensity and control then these are the three teams you have to bring it to," Rosman said.
"Vixens are coming off a bye this week so they've had a bit of a break and they have the trip over, but we have momentum so you can tussle it either way.
"We are a team of no excuses and we make the most of what we've got."
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