Netball: History will count for nothing in face off

By RICHARD BOOCK

The Force are preparing themselves for the mother of all neighbourhood disputes tomorrow night when they square off against cross-town rivals the Diamonds at the Unitec Stadium in Mt Albert.

The North Harbour franchise might have won all previous five encounters between the teams, but the predictions this week are for a tense, close showdown, and a match that should live up to its billing.

From the Force's point of view, there has been the gain of coach Yvonne Willering and a tight first-up win over the Flames to boost confidence heading into the National Bank Cup's second round.

For the Diamonds, the experience and presence of Joan Hodson, new personnel and a rare opening-round win in Dunedin have left them feeling upbeat about their chances of qualifying for the semifinals.

Force and Silver Fern defender Sheryl Clarke has a fair idea of what to expect, having played in all five previous Battles of the Bridge, ending up on the winning side on every occasion.

"It's always such a big event and I'm really looking forward to it," Clarke said this week. "Every time it's a huge clash but I think this time around it's going to be even bigger - it's all set up.

"There's been a lot of talk around about the Diamonds and how well they're playing, and they started pretty well against the Rebels last week. So I think it's going to be really tough this time, something worth watching."

Clarke scrimmaged against the Diamonds while playing for the Silver Ferns before the tour of England, and said the franchise was a useful combination and would be even tougher after last weekend's success.

The Diamonds beat the Rebels by six after losing a pre-season warm-up game against the same opposition by 25.

"They're looking pretty good, you've got to say," said Clarke. "They've got a few young ones, a few new ones like Julie Kelman-Poto and Victoria Edward, and that'll boost their strength and their confidence."

But Clarke believed this year's Force were more than capable of meeting the challenge and continuing on to realise their potential at the business end of the season.

"It's good to have Yvonne back and there's a great feeling within the team - the girls have been training really hard and we know we can play a lot better than we did last weekend [over the Flames].

"A lot's been made of our preparation because we didn't play any other league team, but we did practice against the men's team and spent a lot of time on our combination work and our general court-work - and it's left us pretty well-grounded."

Clarke said she didn't place much store in the Force's unbeaten "Bridge" reign since the league began in 1998, saying history would count for nothing tomorrow night; it would all be about seizing the moment.

Another tipping a close finish is Clarke's defence team-mate Linda Vagana, the former Silver Fern who will this year play for Samoa in the world championships at Jamaica.

Vagana, one of three Force players to have contested all the previous bridge battles (the other is Teresa Tairi), believes all the signs are for a classic match-up, and for a goal-for-goal contest to the end.

Although the Force have won three of the previous five games by 11 goals or more, they were stretched most in the 1998 and 1999 seasons, when they won by four and five goals, respectively.

"I can pretty much bet that's it's going to be a real tight game," Vagana said.

"The Diamonds are stronger, they've enhanced their team and with Joan [Hodson] coaching, there'll be completely different dynamics involved.

"I'm looking forward to a really tough one. I hate to say it, but I think it'll be really, really close."

Vagana said the good news for the Force was that there was ample room for improvement after last weekend's win.

The Force out-pointed the Flames with a strong defensive effort, combined with a vital contribution from stalwart goal attack Tairi.

"Teresa is playing really well right now," said Vagana.

"She's injury-free and I think we've finally got the old "T" back. It was great to see her playing so well last weekend.

"There's options there for us too, in that Teresa can play goal-shoot in a different attacking combination, and Lorna Suafoa and Kate Dowling can be brought in at the defence end.

"And, of course there's Yvonne's presence as well so there's a lot of stuff up our sleeves yet."

Vagana rated this year's side one of the best in the Force's history, but said it was time the franchise cast off its pretensions and realised its potential.

"It's probably one of the stronger Force teams but, having said that, we've had strong teams throughout - it's just a shame that we've looked better on paper than we have on the court.

"The key for us this season is to live up to our potential on the court."