In the most tightly contested race to the Finals Series in ANZ Championship history, three teams will be fighting for the two remaining Finals spots in the last home and away round for season 2010.

With the NSW Swifts having wrapped up the minor premiership and the Adelaide Thunderbirds looking likely to finish in second-spot the final two positions in the top four are set to be decided by three games on the weekend.

The Queensland Firebirds must overcome the West Coast Fever in Perth and hope the Southern Steel or Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic get rolled by their opponents, the inform Swifts and Thunderbirds.

The Steel and WBOP Magic both lag significantly behind the Firebirds in terms of percentage.  This is largely due to the Firebirds’ astonishing performance against the Mercury Tactix in Round 13, in which they set a new ANZ Championship record of 98 goal attempts.

However, a Firebirds victory at Challenge Stadium is far from a certainty with the young Fever side showing they can match it with the competitions top teams throughout the season.

Check out the 2010 statistics leaders here! ChampionData have prepared a special overview of the statistics leaders of 2010.

Catch every minute of the ANZ Championship action on Network Ten in Australia – check your local programming guide for details.

Round 14 fixture

Saturday 19 June     

Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic v Adelaide Thunderbirds

2.20pm, Energy Events Centre, Rotorua 

Sunday 20 June       

West Coast Fever v Queensland Firebirds

12.50pm, Challenge Stadium, Perth

Canterbury Tactix v Northern Mystics

6.50pm, Westpac Arena, Christchurch

Monday 21 June       

Central Pulse v Melbourne Vixens

7.20pm, Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua

NSW Swifts v Southern Steel

7.05pm, Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Sydney

LIVE SCORING – click here for live scoring – every game, every goal, LIVE!

Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic v Adelaide Thunderbirds

·         The Thunderbirds and WBOP Magic have met four times, with the ledger being split two all.

·         When the teams last met in the 2009 Preliminary Final, the Thunderbirds defeated the Magic 51-37 to advance to their first ANZ Championship Grand Final.

·         The Thunderbirds have played more matches in New Zealand than any other Australian side.  They have played there nine times in total, for five wins and four losses.

·         The Thunderbirds have the second best attacking record in the ANZ Championship, conceding on average 44.42 goals.  They are just behind the Swifts, who concede an average of 44.33 goals per match.

·         The Magic has the fifth best defensive record, conceding an average of 48.50 goals per match.

·         The Magic has the second best shooting accuracy in the ANZ Championship with a season average of 86.76% accuracy, while the Thunderbirds sit fourth with 81%.

·         Thunderbirds star shooter Carla Borrego is the ANZ Championship leading scorer after Round 13. She has scored 471 goals at 85.6% accuracy.

·         Magic star Irene van Dyk is still the most accurate shooter in the ANZ Championship after Round 13, having shot 403 goals at 94.4% accuracy.  She holds the all time ANZ Championship accuracy record with 1395 goals at a remarkable 93.5%, and is now just five goals away from scoring her 1,400^th ANZ Championship goal.

West Coast Fever v Queensland Firebirds

·         In their five encounters to date, the Fever are yet to beat the Firebirds.

·         The Fever were impressive against the Thunderbirds for the first three quarters in Round 13, but failed to overcome the in-form team in the final quarter, going down 54-45.

·         Meanwhile the Firebirds demolished the Tactix by an astonishing 43 goals, led by Romelda Aiken who shot 47 from 62 attempts.  This was in spite of the Firebirds’ off-court dramas leading in to Round 13, surrounding their request to have import player Tamsin Greenway replace the injured Sarah Wall.

·         Instead, Laura Scherian took the court in place of Wall.  Before last week, Scherian had spent less than two minutes on court this season, however she performed admirably alongside her captain, centre Lauren Nourse.

·         One of the keys to this match will be the clash between Aiken and the Fever’s towering defender Susan Fuhrmann.  Sitting fifth in the competition for defensive rebounds, Fuhrmann delivered a strong performance against Carla Borrego in Round 13, restricting the Thunderbirds’ star shooter to 73% accuracy – more than 10 percentage points less than her season average of 85.5%.

·         At the other end of the court, Caitin Bassett will be up against Laura Geitz, one of the dominant defenders of the competition.

·         Although they won’t be playing for a top-four Finals spot, the Fever will still be looking to impress national selectors leading in to the Commonwealth Games.

Canterbury Tactix v Northern Mystics

·         The Mystics lead head to head with three wins and two losses.

·         When the teams last met in Round 7 the Mystics defeated the Tactix 59-50 in Auckland.

·         Four of the five previous meetings between the sides have been played in Auckland.

·         Their only previous meeting in Christchurch was in Round 14, 2009, with the Tactix defeating the Mystics 63-56.

·         The Mystics’ chances of making the Finals Series ended in Round 13 when they were defeated by the Steel 43-50 in Auckland.

·         The Tactix’ record losing run in the ANZ Championship continued in Round 13, when they suffered a devastating 32-75 loss the Firebirds in Brisbane. The Tactix have now lost 11 consecutive matches, and sit in tenth position on the Championship ladder.

·         Last week was also the Tactix’ lowest ever score in the ANZ Championship.

Central Pulse v Melbourne Vixens

·         The Vixens have won both previous meetings between the sides.

·         When the sides last met (Round 14, 2009), the Vixens defeated the Pulse 80-39.

·         The Vixens’ 80-goal haul against the Pulse last season still stands as the highest ever ANZ Championship score.

·         The Vixens’ record losing run in the ANZ Championship continued in Round 13 when they went down 46-58 to the Swifts. Prior to Round 6 this season the Vixens had never lost consecutive ANZ Championship matches.

·         The Pulse has had just one win in 2010, when they defeated the Tactix 45-43 in Round 10.

·         The Pulse’s first ANZ Championship victory came against the Swifts in Round 13 last season (53-52) when the Swifts were defending champions.

NSW Swifts v Southern Steel

·         The final match of the 2010 home and away series sees a tantalising clash between the Swifts, who are attempting to become the first ever ANZ Championship team to enter the Finals Series with a perfect winning record, and the Steel, who may well be playing for the right to host Semi-Final 2.

·         These two sides have only met twice previously, winning one game each.

·         They last met in Round 14, 2009, with the Steel winning 55-48 in Invercargill.

·         In Round 13, Swifts coach Julie Fitzgerald experimented with some of her younger players, to great effect.  One combination which Fitzgerald did NOT alter was that of Sonia Mkoloma and Rebecca Bulley, arguably the best defensive combination in the competition.

·         The Steel’s captain, former Australian international Megan Dehn, is in sensational form.  She is second in the competition for centre pass receives, and will be drawing on all her big game experience in this season-defining match.