KEY POINTS:
New Zealand suffered their second tri-series netball loss within 48 hours in England today.
The Silver Ferns lost 47-50 to Australia, two days after losing to England for the first time in 32 years.
Despite showing vast improvement on that performance today, they still could not get the
better of Australia, viewed as their major rivals for the world championship title this year.
New Zealand's lack of composure in the hectic final quarter saw them come up short of their perennial arch-rivals.
New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken rang the changes after Monday's loss, bringing in Julie Seymour at centre for Temepara George while Maria Tutaia came on at goal attack instead of Jodi Te Huna, and Casey Williams started at goal keep for Leana de Bruin.
Yet the Silver Ferns' problems in bringing the ball through the court to their shooters persisted, with too many turnovers being gifted straight back to the opposition.
A seven-goal run to Australia midway through the first quarter in Birmingham looked ominous, and New Zealand did well to halt the flow at 4-9 down.
But the Australian midcourt, spearheaded by sisters Laura and Natalie von Bertouch, was having little difficulty finding shooters Sharelle McMahon and Sue Pratley as they comfortably led 17-12 after 15 minutes.
Aitken's decision at the end of the first quarter to bring on Joline Henry for Anna Scarlett proved correct, with Henry's skill in bringing the ball through to attack proving invaluable and her combination with Williams putting more pressure on the Australian shooters.
Yet New Zealand's midcourt combination still struggled, with wing attack and captain Adine Wilson almost anonymous at times.
The Silver Ferns scrapped well through the second spell, responding to some intense midcourt pressure from Mo'onia Gerrard and Selina Gilsenan to win the quarter 10-7 and trail 22-24 at halftime.
Tutaia grew in confidence as the game progressed, offering more options in the circle for her attackers, while the New Zealand team as a whole worked the ball around with more ease than they managed against England.
Although Tutaia took some pressure off goal shoot Irene van Dyk, the former South African captain again seemed to struggle with her shooting, sinking 26 from 34 attempts while Tutaia managed 21 from 28.
Seymour was subbed off for George at halftime, after a solid 30 minutes work, while the Williams-Henry combination forced Australian coach Norma Plummer to bring on Catherine Cox and goal shoot and move McMahon to goal attack.
New Zealand maintained momentum in the third quarter, snatching another goal back from Australia to trail 36-37 with 15 minutes remaining.
Matching Australia goal for goal early in the final quarter, the Silver Ferns drew even at 41-41 midway through the spell but could not respond when the pressure went on as an unanswered four-goal run gave the Australians the decisive break.
Aitken was happier with her team's effort, while conceding there was still a lot of work to do if New Zealand wanted to defend their world crown in Auckland in November.
"From our team point of view, it was a huge step up and with that I'm very pleased," she told TV One after the test.
"We were a lot more committed to our team defence, and we picked up quite a lot of turnover ball. We just didn't quite convert it when we needed to in those final stages."
Aitken said that with the world championship six months away she was not completely happy "but we're on the right track".
Wilson also said the Silver Ferns could take some positives from today's game.
"Obviously we didn't want to lose, we wanted to come away with two wins, but we've got to take a lot of heart from this.
"We got within five of both teams, and it's a long to go until the world champs," she said.
"But we've got to learn to win. We've got to learn that when we get into those critical situations that we rise up ... I think we're playing good netball coming from behind but when we get there, we need to keep moving on with it."
- NZPA
