Netball: Jodi's return fires up the Silver Ferns

It was supposed to be a rout in the south but the silver ferns scratched out a 55-40 win to end a patchy series against England in Invercargill last night.

While the world champions were a shadow of the side which crushed the English midweek, there was at least one bright spot in the Ferns' performance.

Goal attack Jodi Te Huna, slated for her poor shooting statistics in the first test, stepped up her game and shared the responsibility under the post with Irene van Dyk.

Te Huna's 20 goals from 27 shots were easily her best performance of the series.

While Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken was able to experiment with her defensive players, trying a different combination in each quarter, she does not appear to have the same luxury at the other end of the court.

The Ferns' reliance on just two shooters throughout the series has to be a concern for the side when they come up against the unforgiving Australian defenders later in the year.

The Ferns will meet their perennial arch rivals in two encounters - in Sydney in June, and the return test in Auckland in October.

But last night's scratchy performance by the world champions would have the Australians trying to bring the first test forward a couple of months.

After winning the opening encounter by 22, and the second by 34, netball fans were expecting a record score from the Silver Ferns.

But captain Adine Wilson admitted it "definitely wasn't our best performance."

For those who wanted Silver Ferns' young talent to start last night, there would've been disappointment. Aitken chose a seven as close to the 'top seven' world championship line-up as she could.

She had asked her side to give a strong finish in the final test, "to come out on court and be relentless, nail things".

But for the first quarter, they appeared reluctant rather than relentless - their passing erratic, their shooting off-target.

The English, wilting from the heat poured on by the Ferns in the first two tests, welcomed the return of their captain Olivia Murphy, on her way back from ankle surgery late last year. Murphy, clearly the strongest mid-courter in the English side, rallied the attack.

They started with a bang, putting three goals on the board before the Ferns had scored.

Leading the second quarter by just three goals, 15-12, the Ferns changed their defensive line-up - sending Sheryl Scanlan and Vic Edward to the bench, bringing in fresh young talent Anna Scarlett and Laura Langman.

While the Ferns opened up a more comprehensive lead in the second spell, 28-17, they walked off court at halftime hurting, having been stung for twice as many penalties as England.

The Ferns continued to try new defensive combinations, staring the third quarter with Scarlett and Joline Henry, then re-introducing Scanlon to partner Scarlett in the circle defence.

But Aitken stuck with two senior shooters, van Dyk and Te Huna through the whole game, as she had throughout the series.

Van Dyk was not her usual upbeat self, hassled by the long reach of English defenders Sonia Mkoloma and Geva Mentor, and some wayward feeding. While she missed only five goals in her 40 attempts, she was far from dominant. But any disappointment was cancelled out by Te Huna's new-found confidence before the hoop.

There were other highlights - Temepara George was a tireless worker in the mid-court, and 17-year-old Langman showed she will be a midcourter with a long future in the Ferns.

The English polished their team game for their final appearance, using the full width of the court, reminiscent of the Australian style, to combat New Zealand's potent mid-court zone defence.

But once again they were let down by the inaccuracy of their shooters - succeeding with 40 of their 65 attempts.

While Aitken warned not to read too much into the 3-0 series win, she did not hide the fact she was satisfied with her players.

"We are in a much better place than I thought we would have been for the start of the year," she said.

"Of course we are going to be performing under more pressure against the Australians - it's easy to look good when you have the measure of the other team. But we know we're going to be under the microscope."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY