LEPRECHAUNS coach Kym McPhee-Smith feels her side's confidence has been restored after Wednesday night's 44-35 victory over North Cairns Tigers Pride at the Martyn St netball courts.

The result was just what the flu-riddled Leprechauns needed after suffering two narrow losses against Lightning and Saints in the past fortnight.

With finals starting in two weeks, McPhee-Smith said it was vital for Leprechauns to finish the regular season with momentum.

"The win is something we definitely needed and it’s given the girls a boost in confidence," she said.

"To go through the whole year not losing and then to lose those two games in a row was a bit deflating.

"We are carrying a lot of sickness in the team at the moment, so I was really happy with how the girls got up and played."

While delighted to get the win, McPhee-Smith was happier the Leprechauns didn’t fade away in the final quarter like they did against Lightning the previous week.

"It’s something we talked about before the last quarter against Tigers about how we have to close out games better," McPhee-Smith said.

"To give up an eight-goal lead last week against Lightning was disappointing, but I’ve got the youngest team in A Grade, so I think it’s more of an experience thing.

"(Against Tigers Pride) we actually lost the last quarter by one, but I made a fair few changes to our combinations.

"If we had kept what we had in the third quarter out there then I think we would’ve gone on with it more."

Leprechauns finish the competition rounds with a match against Tigers Mighty next week but are already
entrenched in the top four.

McPhee-Smith said her team couldn’t wait for finals to start.

"It’s been sort of a weird season with the stops we had for State of Origin and we’ve also had some wet weather," she said.

"It hasn’t really felt like a hard season and the girls are still feeling pretty fresh at the moment."

In other results on Wednesday night, Lightning beat Sharks 41-33, while South Cairns Cutters were big 40-26 winners over Tigers Mighty.

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