Netball: Silver Ferns beat Australians

New Zealand 52 Australia 40

BRISBANE - A commanding second quarter by the Silver Ferns paved the way for a strong 52-40 netball test win over Australia at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night.

It was the New Zealanders' fourth straight win over the Australians and their ninth in their past 11 outings over their great rivals and confirmed their current run of domination, though it was not without some nervous moments in the second half.

Leading up to the match, the Australians were confident they could turn around their Commonwealth Games loss by five goals, especially with the boost of having one of their netball legends Liz Ellis and fellow defender Mo'onia Gerrard back from knee injury.

But despite a competitive start they soon fell behind the pace as the Silver Ferns proved superior over the court in the second quarter, paving the way for coach Ruth Aitken and her assistant Leigh Gibbs to celebrate their 50th test together at the helm with a win.

Aitken threw some surprises in her run-on team, with 19-year-old Maria Tutaia starting ahead of Belinda Colling at goal attack and Leana de Bruin beginning at goal defence ahead of Casey Williams and Anna Scarlett. In the Australian side, Gerrard started at wing defence, with Jessica Shynn at wing attack and Natalie von Bertouch at centre.

If Tutaia had any early nerves they didn't show as she coolly landed her first shot at goal and was successful with her next six shots.

The Australians matched the Silver Ferns goal for goal early, but the New Zealanders pulled away in the latter part of the first quarter to lead 16-11 at the break.

They really stepped up the pressure in the second quarter with the defence putting pressure on the Australian shooters and the ball flowing quickly through the midcourt to van Dyk and Tutaia, who were spot on with their shooting, landing 15 from 16 attempts.

It was 31-17 at halftime and the Australians, who shuffled around their attacking players in the second quarter, looked to be struggling to contain their rampant opposition.

Aitken brought on Colling and Scarlett and they maintained the pressure, but alarm bells rang when imposing goalkeeper Vilimaina Davu was warned for pushing. Aitken subbed Davu off with de Bruin coming back on and the momentum changed with the Australians starting to find some flow.

The bridged the gap down from 16 to nine, with a 39-30 scoreline heading into the final quarter.

The Australians scored early in the final quarter, coming within seven points of the New Zealanders, raising the expectations of the large crowd, but the Silver Ferns consolidated in the middle stages to re-establish their command of the match.

The second in the two-test series is at Sydney on Tuesday night and the Australians will take some heart from their second half performance into that match.

- NZPA