The Australian Diamonds are one step closer to winning back the Constellation Cup for 2013 with a solid performance in Adelaide beating the Silver Ferns, 58-50.
Silver Fern Starting 7
GS - IVD
GA - Tutaia
WA - Tairi
C - Langman
WD - Henry
GD - Kopua
GK - Grant
Diamonds Starting 7
GS - Bassett
GA - Medhurst
WA - Green
C - Ravallion
WD - Hallinan
GD - Chatfield
GK - Geitz
Once again the Ferns attacking end was under the microscope with Courtney Tairi given the WA bib and again struggling against the hard man on man defensive style that the Aussies employ. With Courtney not finding the circle edge very often it makes it harder to feed into Tutaia and IVD, allowing the circle defenders to come out for intercept opportunities and just generally disrupting the rhythm of the attacking end. At the end of the first quarter the Ferns were down by only 2 goals.
Nat Medhurst again has proven that she is the best GA in Australia, her combination with Bassett continues to go from strength to strength and proves a scary thought for next year's ANZ Championship season.
Coach killers continued to be the Ferns undoing with uncharacteristic stepping and breaking calls giving up possession far to easily. However one could argue that the umpires may have had a hand in these calls, as they do not get picked up for either the Ferns or the Diamonds players at ANZ Championship level. It was these type of calls that plagued both teams as it disrupted the flow and momentum, taking away from the spectacle that is an Australian and New Zealand clash.
Defensively while Katrina Grant is a fantastic GK, it seems that the holding shooter suits Leana de Bruin's game better and with her sidelined with a calf niggle it was unfortunate that she couldn't take the court. Casey Kopua and Joline Henry did everything they could to disrupt the flow of ball into Bassett but it was just too easy at times and the defensive structures probably needed a re think. At times it simply seemed as though our defensive end was chasing the Diamonds instead of trying to attack the ball and in turn gaining intercepts.
At the other end Laura Geitz and Bianca Chatfield were continuing the tough physical one on one style that has been the Australian's bread and butter for years, at times going a bit over the top but lets face it if the umpires don't pull you up for your infringements then you continue until you are. Our girls do the same thing.
With the test debut of Shannon Francois on for Tairi at half time, her impact was evident immediately. Not only was she taking the pressure off Tutaia at the centre pass but was also allowing more space for Langman to hit the circle edge for an easier feeding position.
Uncharacteristically IVD was benched at 3/4 time giving Cat Latu valuable time on court against the Diamonds going into the Commonwealth Games next year. Latu used her hold positively against Geitz and as a result the Ferns closed the gap but also started to score goals faster than when Irene was on the court.
The Ferns went on to win the last quarter by 5 goals, a much better team effort throughout the court with Katrina Grant and Casey Kopua finally attacking the ball, finishing the quarter with 4 intercepts to the Diamonds 1.
As always the girls will be disappointed with there performance but it can be said that you learn more from a defeat than a win. Plenty to work on for the next game in Melbourne and it seems that with one half of international netball, Francois has leap frogged both Tairi and Thompson for the WA bib.
We will see if she retains it for the rest of the series.
What did you think of the game?
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