Netball: Silver Ferns win but fail to flatter

By JULIE ASH

It was hardly the performance they were looking for in their last game before the world championships but the Silver Ferns scraped together a 48-41 win over England in the final test last night.

The three-test series drew to a close in front of a full house at the North Shore Events Centre. England, coached by former Silver Ferns Lyn Gunson and Waimarama Taumaunu, had their best game of the series and were in the match right up until the last quarter, when the Silver Ferns had to put their foot down to make sure of the win.

Going into the series, Silver Fern coach Ruth Aitken made it clear she was hoping to get all 12 players on court. But last night proved some combinations need plenty of work before the worlds in Jamaica in less than a month.

"We did expect them to throw everything at us and they did that very effectively, but it was great for us," she said.

"It was good for us to have that pressure finish. I felt we allowed them to force some errors we shouldn't have done and that certainly our flow on to the ball and the accuracy of our passing became a little bit suspect under pressure.

"But it is great to go away now and regroup and think, 'Yes, we have got further to go'."

Aitken opted to start with an untried lineup, teaming Tania Dalton and Irene van Dyk in the shooting circle and Sheryl Clarke and Anna Scarlett at goal defence and goal keep.

The Dalton-van Dyk combination started strongly but seemed to run into trouble as the match progressed. The amount of ball thrown away on attack in the first quarter will be a concern for Aitken.

England defenders Sonia Mkoloma and Naomi Siddall started strongly and it was their work which kept the visitors in the game in the first quarter.

The Silver Ferns held a 14-13 lead at the first break but it was the English who came out firing in the second quarter. With the experienced Tracey Neville at wing attack they were a lot more confident through the midcourt and took the lead for the first time early in the second quarter.

However New Zealand finished the quarter strongly to be 26-24 up at the break. Both coaches rang in the changes at halftime with the introduction of Belinda Colling came on at goal attack perhaps the most significant. Colling made an impact by controlling play in the attacking third. But England were not about to let their momentum go and trailed the Silver Ferns by just 38-33 at the three-quarter break.

Aitken was taking no chances and brought on solid defender Vilimaina Davu for the last quarter. England's shooting fell apart late in the game which helped the Silver Ferns make certain of the win.

Although New Zealand showed flashes of brilliance in the last quarter their performance was anything but convincing. After losses by 65-41 and 55-35 in the first two tests, last night's margin and manner of the loss is an encouraging way for England to end their tour.

"We are pleased with our physical effort," Gunson said. "We were more full-on for the whole four quarters. Obviously you don't like 20-goal margins like in the first two tests, but at least it is not 50 goals like it was two years ago."

Gunson said the seven-goal loss was a positive heading for the world championships.

* Veteran midcourter Lesley Nicol became New Zealand's most capped player last night with her 95th international, overtaking Sandra Edge.