Diamonds claim the Constellation Cup

On Monday night, the Australian Diamonds notched up there 3rd win in a row and with that claiming the Constellation Cup with one last test match remaining at the end of the week in Canberra. 

Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu rewarded both Cat Latu and Shannon Francois for their efforts in the 3rd test match with both finding themselves in the starting lineup. 

Latu started strong in the goal circle, finding some good space and keeping Geitz guessing with her variety and movement. The holding game that she employs helps to keep the defenders in two minds as to her game plan and also helps Tutaia to slot in nicely at the top of the circle.

The early Ferns zone defense came up with a couple of Diamonds turnovers but they were not capitalised on which will be another concern to add to Wai's list of things for the girls to keep working on. However after a jittery start at the other end, Nat Medhurst continued where she left off in the last match, combining beautifully with Bassett and again using her ball fake to get the Fern defenders moving off Bassett allowing for an easy shot under the post.

Francois is putting her hand up nice and high for Wai to contemplate using her for the rest of the series as she has made a bigger impact than both Tairi and Thompson in the earlier test matches. Her speed and pure athleticism allows her to deal with the physical nature of Renae Hallinan a lot better and as a result she found the circle edge. 

However in the second quarter, Latu was on the back of a few bizarre umpiring calls and as a result was advanced for her indiscretions. She later came out post game and called time following the incidents, for a fear of an all in brawl. Certainly not something that either side would have wanted, however I do applaud Latu for recognizing that the game was not heading in the right direction and calling time was a good choice just to calm things down.

Without trying to direct a lot of blame towards the neutral umpires (I have already detailed my thoughts on this in another post) but it did seem like the calls were not consistent for both sides, with even a couple of Oscars to be handed out to Geitz and Chatfield for tricking the umpires into thinking there was a contact penalty to be blown.

However a constant trend throughout the series so far has been the umpiring calls which are not only head scratching at times but have also been disrupting the flow and momentum of the game. 

Again the 3rd quarter continues to be known as the Championship quarter, with the first period after halftime becoming increasingly important in the context of the match result. The Ferns were restricted to just 12 attempts at goal while the Diamonds had 16. Much of the goal difference could be put down to a whopping 10 turn overs the ferns were guilty of compared to the Diamonds only conceding possession 6 times. 

The 4th and final quarter was the only quarter the Ferns won for the game, outscoring the Diamonds 15 goals to 10. The fightback was heartening from a Kiwi point of view, but was not enough to save the series. The goal percentage again was the Diamonds dominating factor, with 52/58 it was better than the Ferns who managed 47/57.

It will now be up to the Ferns to turn it around for the last match in Canberra to avoid a 4-1 series loss. 

Fingers and toes are crossed.