KEY POINTS:
The Silver Ferns' world netball championship hopes took a tumble in Manchester today following their first loss to England in 32 years.
New Zealand never recovered from a horror first quarter when they trailed by 10 goals and were forced to play catch-up until fulltime by which stage
England had firm control and a 50-45 win.
England's fitness and spoiling defence put the Silver Ferns under real pressure from the start, but it was the shooting accuracy of Louisa Brownfield, Pamela Cookey and Rachel Dunn that really secured the win.
It was just the second time since 1975, and in 67 matches, that England have beaten New Zealand.
The last time the two sides met, at last year's Commonwealth Games, the Silver Ferns ran out 55-40 winners.
While disappointed with the result, Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken was pleased with the way her team battled back after such a poor start.
"We fought really well to get back into that game, and it's hugely disappointing that we weren't able to nail it when we needed to," she said.
Aitken was pleased with goal attack Jodi Te Huna's return to top-level play after rupturing knee ligaments before the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
"It was Jodi's first test back, which is a real challenge. I thought she did really well, she had a huge workload, but it's just that confidence which needs to come.
"Jodi has been performing very well for us in training and we felt that, coming back, she needed that (on-court) time."
New Zealand captain Adine Wilson paid tribute to England's determination and ability to stick to their gameplan.
"They did a great job spoiling the ball and slowing down our speed.
"You've got to give it to the English, they played exceptionally well, but we're better than this.
"We need to put it together and really make a whole 60 minutes of it."
Wilson said the Silver Ferns needed to be able to respond to pressure and adjust when things were not working for them.
"We need to go back to the drawing board and work out when we do get slowed down, what do we need to do. What's our go-to from there?"
Confidence and grit were too often missing from New Zealand's game today, she said.
"We really need to be tough out there and go for those balls. We talk about leaving our tank empty and we've got to do that, and we've got to do that straight from the first whistle.
"I'm sure the girls will be training exceptionally hard tomorrow, because we hate losing."
Aitken had pinpointed England's abrasive in-goal defence of Geva Mentor and Sonia Mkoloma as a real worry before the game, and her concerns proved well founded.
Both tall, rangy players, Mentor and Mkoloma put New Zealand shooters Te Huna and Irene van Dyk under constant pressure and the Silver Ferns midcourt struggled to feed their circle effectively.
At the other end of the court, starting New Zealand defenders Anna Scarlett and Leana de Bruin could not contain Brownfield and Cookey for long, with the English timing on attack excellent and their ball retention impeccable.
Aitken brought on Casey Williams and Joeline Henry two minutes before halftime and, although the new combination settled quickly, England still had a 29-20 lead at the break.
Not even an ankle injury to Brownfield with three minutes of the third quarter remaining disadvantaged England, as Rachel Dunn slotted in seamlessly for the hosts to lead 38-33 at the three-quarter mark.
New Zealand had chances to draw even in the closing minutes but some uncharacteristic errors gave the English midcourt bonus possession which was cooly converted into the winning points.
The Silver Ferns have to regather physically and mentally for their second match of the tri-series tournament in Birmingham on Wednesday morning (NZT) against Australia.
Having lost 1-2 to Australia in a series in New Zealand last October, the Silver Ferns will be desperate to find some form as they look to build towards their title defence at the world championships in Auckland in November.
- NZPA
