Netball: Cautious Ferns cruise to easy win

9.00pm - By JULIE ASH

The Silver Ferns put in an extremely cautious performance to go one up over England in the first test in Christchurch tonight.

Stepping out in their "new look" uniform, the Silver Ferns beat the English 65-41 in a match that lacked both speed and flair.

In the early stages it looked like England were going to give the Ferns a run for their money but a lack of consistency, which has plagued the English so many times before, set in and New Zealand were able to up the tempo and run away with the match.

"We were quite hesitant to start with," said Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken. "I think that was just getting out there for the first time, there was a lot of desire tinged with anxiety. I think we just needed to relax and let it go."

As expected, Aitken opted to start with her most experienced lineup. Irene van Dyk and Belinda Colling teamed up in the shooting circle with Adine Harper, captain Anna Rowberry and Lesley Nicol in the midcourt and Sheryl Clarke and Vilimaina Davu on defence.

The match kicked off in what seemed like slow motion, with both sides extremely careful to look after the ball. Van Dyk made use of the 10cm height advantage she had over England's rangy defenders, Sonia Mkoloma and Janet Coulbourne, and was fed plenty of quality ball.

But at the other end of the court, Teare was the standout performer of the first quarter, finding plenty of room along the baseline and netting an impressive 13 shots from 14 attempts.

Three goals was as far as New Zealand got ahead in the first quarter as the English pinned them back to trail by just 14-13 at quarter time.

No changes were made going into the second quarter and it was the Silver Ferns who came out stronger after the break, capitalising on a series of misdirected passes and missed shots from the English.

While Teare was having a cracker at goal shoot, it was not until 25 minutes into the game that her partner, goal-attack Alex Astle, landed her first shot.

Possibly a little wary, New Zealand were careful with the ball and their game did not flow as smoothly as usual.

"In the first half we were very hesitant and not really connecting on attack," said Rowberry. "We made it hard for ourselves not letting it go because then you become hestitant and that is when you make errors."

On defence New Zealand's midcourt zone worked well by forcing the English into errors and the margin was pushed out to 33-25 at halftime.

Both teams rung in the changes in the second half, the most significant being the introduction of pint-sized North Harbour centre Temepara Clark, which seemed to help the Ferns speed up their game and they soon found themselves 16 goals up.

"It is great to be able to have players sit there, analyse what is happening and then get out there and get that flow going," Aitken said.

Down 50-35, England made changes in the last quarter but they seemed to get worse as the match progressed.

"It was extremely tough," said England captain Amanda Newton. "We are extremely disappointed."

For the English, it is back to the drawing board. "We allowed pressure from New Zealand to make us hesitant and when that happens errors creep in," said the England assistant coach, former Silver Fern Waimarama Taumaunu.

The second test is in Wellington tomorrow night and the third in Auckland on Friday.