Netball: Van Dyk: it was awesome

Irene van Dyk hungers for the perfect game and the tall sharpshooter came agonisingly close in the Silver Ferns' handsome 58-47 win over Australia in Invercargill.

The 1.9m (6ft 3in) goalshoot was a key figure in helping the Ferns to turn a four-goal losing margin in the first test into the 11-goal winning margin of the second test on Wednesday night.

An elated van Dyk knew she had come close to a 100 per cent success rate with her shots at goal - she missed just two of 47.

The former South African captain, who migrated to New Zealand early last year, had perfect returns in the first and third quarters, missing just one shot in the second quarter and one in the fourth.

"Isn't it just shocking, it's terrible," van Dyk said in mock concern at the misses.

"The worst thing is they were both under the goalposts. They weren't even difficult shots ... It's just that slip-in-concentration thing."

Van Dyk was full of praise for shooting partner Donna Loffhagen, who deflected a lot of the Australian defensive attention away from the Ferns' key weapon.

Their attack line was also on song and gave van Dyk a quality supply of ball, which allowed the shooters to get on top of the menacing threat of Kathryn Harby-Williams and Liz Ellis.

"It was awesome," van Dyk said. "The feeders did really well. They worked the ball through and they really tried to give me the wonderful ball that I wanted.

"It's a great feeling, but I won't say we've got the better of the Aussie defence yet. They are absolutely fantastic, make no mistake."

Loffhagen, who faced some criticism after a subdued first test, was happy to get a victory of any sort.

The Silver Ferns won all four quarters to confirm their dominance.

"I'm a bit buggered," was her first response. "I don't think I would have minded if we had won by one goal, to tell you the truth.

"We just had to go out there and win - it was do-or-die. To win every quarter was a bonus."

Loffhagen was much more involved in all aspects of play than in the first test and converted 13 shots from 17 attempts.

A favourite with the crowd on her home court on Wednesday night, Loffhagen said tomorrow night's decider in Christchurch would basically be another home-town match for her.

The willowy shooter plays her Coca-Cola Cup netball for the Southern Sting in Invercargill, but hails from Christchurch, where she now lives.

- NZPA