Netball: Silver Ferns finally break series duck

Katrina Grant of the Silver Ferns reaches out to intercept the ball from World 7's Megan Dehn during their match at Trusts Stadium, Auckland. Photo / Getty Images

An inspired final quarter helped New Zealand to a 46-41 victory over a composite World 7 team, saving them from an embarrassing 0-3 netball series defeat.

The World 7 led at halftime and three-quarter time as the Silver Ferns offence found it difficult to get past English defenders Sonia Mkoloma and Geva Mentor.

But committed work from captain Casey Williams at goal keep along with a better offensive game saw the Silver Ferns score six unanswered goals at the beginning of the final quarter, and they ran away to a comfortable victory.

The composite team won the series 2-1.

The Silver Ferns again had enough problems against a team who had never played together before last week to suggest they have much to improve on before playing Australia next week.

New Zealand again made a bad start, going down 1-4 within a couple of minutes.

But a 7-0 scoring run courtesy of a more committed defensive effort took the home team to a 10-6 lead, and they went into the first break 14-11 ahead, with veteran shooter Irene Van Dyk and new goal attack Paula Griffin working well together.

The introduction of Mkoloma at goal defence at quarter time made an immediate difference to the World 7, producing more turnovers and making access to the Silver Ferns shooters much harder.

The home side at first matched them with strong defence of their own, but the World 7 scored six of the last eight goals in the quarter to take a 24-22 halftime lead.

It was a similar story at the beginning of the third quarter, with the World 7 stretching their lead to five early on, the introduction of Jamaican goal shooter Romelda Aiken adding more height in the goal circle.

The Silver Ferns came back strongly however, with Maria Tutaia being introduced to improve the New Zealand attack, and they drew level at 32-32 near the end of the quarter before a World 7 rally took them to a two-point lead at three-quarter time.

The prospect of a series whitewash seemed to fire up the home at the start of the final quarter.

Tutaia and Van Dyk found more space under the goal, and Casey performed heroics to keep Aiken at bay.

Six unanswered goals and a 10-2 run early in the quarter took the Silver Ferns five goals clear, after which they never let the World 7 back into the game.

The Silver Ferns next head across to play Australia in the first of three tests on September 6 before returning to New Zealand for two more internationals against the same opposition.

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