KEY POINTS:
The look on New Zealand netball captain Julie Seymour's face said it all when she fronted to the media after last night's shock 38-40 loss to England at Dunedin's Edgar Centre.
The usually positive, bubbly midcourter was tight-lipped and terse, uncharacteristically abrupt after the English effected probably the
biggest turnaround ever seen in international netball to secure only their third win over New Zealand in 69 outings.
Two days earlier, the Silver Ferns had wiped the court with England 65-26 in the first test in Auckland. Predictions for the second test were that the English would improve - it would be hard to do anything else - but the scope of this turnaround was way beyond expectation.
The signs were ominous with the scores tied 9-9 at the end of the first quarter, although the Silver Ferns worked hard to go into the halftime break 21-17 ahead. The English regrouped and came out blazing in the third quarter to lead 30-29 with 15 minutes remaining, keeping half a pace ahead of the scrambling New Zealanders in the closing quarter to secure the win.
Seymour didn't bother to hide her disappointment at the below-par result.
"We feel terrible as a team, we're absolutely gutted in ourselves. Individually, if you ask any of the girls, it's not good enough," she said.
"We didn't do credit to the Silver Ferns dress and the performance that's expected at this level. We know we didn't front up as a team... we take great pride in playing for the Silver Ferns and tonight we didn't do our pride justice."
Seymour said there had been no sense of over-confidence going into the second test, with the memory of last year's five-goal loss to England an all-too-recent reminder of their capabilities.
"We've played against those players before and we were quite shocked with how they performed on Monday night. We knew they'd come back harder - they're all very skilled, talented players, that's why they play for England.
"They have a lot of experience, we expected them to be stronger and harder, and they were."
England last night had the services of Geva Mentor again, back at goal keep after an ankle injury, and coach Sue Hawkins was able to tweak her line-up to put the long-reaching Ama Agbeze at wing defence. The rejuvenated midcourt combination of Jade Clarke and Karen Atkinson impressed with some fast-paced, driving play which shooters Pam Cookey and Louisa Brownfield repaid with a solid 73 per cent conversion rate.
New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken also rang the changes, but without nearly the same success. Daneka Wipiiti started at goal shoot with Irene van Dyk again moved up court to goal attack, Maree Bowden came in for Laura Langman in the midcourt and Katrina Grant took over at goal defence.
Neither Wipiiti nor van Dyk would have been happy with their shooting - Wipiiti sinking 15 from 23 for a 65 per cent success rate, while van Dyk's normally high average suffered under pressure as she made 18 from 23 for 78 per cent.
Maria Tutaia came on at goal attack for the final 15 minutes to sink five from eight attempts, with the New Zealand shooters averaging a disappointing 70 per cent.
Although she does an excellent job at goal attack, the fact remains that van Dyk shines most brightly at goal shoot, where her height, positional play and deadly accuracy can be best utilised by New Zealand.
Seymour pinpointed England's rediscovered midcourt drive and their smothering court-wide defensive effort, which put so much pressure on the ball going into van Dyk and Wipiiti, as pivotal to the upset win.
"On attack they pulled us quite wide - we got very isolated, and we weren't able to work together which is something that is usually a strong point of ours," she said.
"They played with more confidence, they let the ball go, they weren't so hesitant and they held us up in our attack so we couldn't get the flow we were able to get on Monday night."
With the third test in Palmerston North just two days away on Saturday, Seymour said it was important to remain calm and focused in the build-up to the decider.
"It's not like we can't do these things - we have the skills and the ability. A lot of it's in the mindset. These are things we know how to do, it's just a matter of fronting up and bringing them to Palmerston North."
- NZPA
