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MELBOURNE - New Zealand netball coach Ruth Aitken isn't one to get carried away, not even after her team has won a nailbiter test in extra time over traditional foes and world champion wannabes Australia.
The Silver Ferns turned around a seven-goal first-test loss in Auckland on Wednesday
with a stunning display at the Vodafone Arena in Melbourne on Saturday for a 67-65 victory.
But Aitken, while happy her team came back from a 10-goal deficit to tie the three-test series going into Tuesday's decider in Adelaide, has her eye fixed firmly on the big picture.
"It's always important to get wins over Australia, especially an Australian team that has had a fair run of them lately," Aitken said after Saturday's win.
"We needed to stem that, but we also have to be realistic to know that they made a lot of changes. They're probably thinking they may have tinkered with things a bit too much."
Ahead 27-20 at halftime, and with New Zealand struggling to find fluency through the centre court, Australian coach Norma Plummer rang the changes.
Captain Liz Ellis, surprisingly benched for the first half, came on for Bianca Chatfield while goal attack Sue Pratley made way for Catherine Cox and new cap Lauren Nourse took over from influential wing attack Laura von Bertouch.
Aitken made her own changes at the halftime bell, but hers proved more effective than Plummer's.
Leana de Bruin replaced Joline Henry at goal defence, while Laura Langman moved from wing defence to centre to replace Julie Seymour and Sheryl Scanlan came on to fill Langman's role.
The changes took a while to gel, but with 15 minutes to go, the margin had been pegged back and Australia looked more ordinary at 43-39 ahead.
In a frantic last quarter, the Silver Ferns almost did enough to secure the win, with Australia just managing to tie the score at 54-54 in the dying seconds of regulation time.
Overtime of two seven-minute halves was scheduled, with the scores tied at 59-59 at the first break.
And as Aitken pointed out afterwards, it was when the pressure went on that the New Zealanders really came into their own, controlling possession and securing the goals when Australia looked for the big pass into their circle, forcing the ball instead of working it.
"I think the biggest pleasure was seeing at the end, when the intensity and the pressure was just huge, we actually played some of our calmest netball," Aitken said.
After the disappointment of the Auckland loss, Aitken was especially happy with the resolve her players showed to shut out the match under intense pressure.
"The test of a strong team is how they respond after disappointment. These last couple of days, the players have really owned the performance of the other night and decided they wanted to improve it. I really thought their heart showed out in this test."
The Silver Fern's midcourt drive improved hugely from the Auckland test, with Sheryl Scanlan particularly invaluable in working the ball through from the defensive end.
But once the ball made the shooting circle, the accuracy of Irene van Dyk -- again player of the match -- and Te Huna was phenomenal.
While Van Dyk missed four shots in the entire game, making 42 from 46 attempts for a 91 per cent success rate, Te Huna was a revelation.
She shot 25 from 27 for 93 per cent, but also got through a power of work around the court and kept the Australian defence in a state of constant uncertainty about which Silver Ferns shooter was the bigger threat.
In contrast for Australia, the usually accurate Catherine Cox was restricted to a miserly 81 per cent success rate, while Sharelle McMahon could only manage 33 from 39 attempts for a very average 85 per cent.
Sue Pratley, subbed at halftime, seemed the only Australian shooter to stretch the excellent Silver Ferns defence, sinking 11 of 12 attempts for a commendable 92 per cent.
- NZPA
