Netball: New Zealand A victory farewell gift for Aitken

SYDNEY - New Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken will leave the New Zealand A programme on a high note after her players won the lucrative International Showdown in Newcastle.

The New Zealanders, who had to get past the top three sides from Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy club competition of last year, came away with $A14,000 ($17,135).

They beat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 54-41 in pool play and the Melbourne Phoenix 64-54 in one semifinal, before toppling the Sydney Swifts - the trophy champions - 62-52 in the final.

After a scrappy first quarter, which ended 15-15, the New Zealanders pulled away from the Swifts, who were at full strength with six Australian squad members in their line-up.

"There were a few nerves that led to turnovers at the start, but then we just plugged away at it," Aitken said. "It was not a flashy game, but bit by bit we put pressure on them."

New Zealand A were without one of their four Silver Ferns, the injured Jenny-May Coffin. Anna Rowberry played at centre and Anna Veronese moved to wing defence.

Aitken said the standout performance came from 19-year-old goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti, who was marked by rugged, experienced Australian test defender Liz Ellis.

"Daneka was simply outstanding and really the difference for us," said Aitken.

"It wasn't just her shooting, but the way she took the ball. Her strength in there was great for one so young against someone so experienced."

Aitken, who now turns her attention to the Silver Ferns' two-week tour of Jamaica starting this week, was involved with the New Zealand A programme for 14 months.

In what she said was the toughest competition for the programme so far, all 12 players who travelled to New South Wales got court time and 10 appeared in the final.

"It was great that we could make changes and still perform. I was delighted the players rose to the occasion and we can take a lot of heart from this."

Although the tournament featured 15 members of the Australian squad, Aitken said it was too early to read much into the results as far as the Commonwealth Games were concerned.

But the opportunity to watch so many of the Australians likely to be in Manchester in July was a bonus. "It will set me up well and we'll need as much information as possible."

The $A25,000 in total prizemoney was unprecedented for an Australian club competition and the winners' cheque will go into Netball New Zealand's high-performance fund.

- NZPA