Fast 5 Day 1

Image courtesy of Zimbio.com

Yesterday afternoon saw the opening day’s action of the Fast 5 netball competition in Auckland, once again complete with all of the fast paced action and long bombs that made last years competition such a crowd favourite.

Jamaica had a tough start to the competition with 3 games on the opening day notching up a win in the opening game against South Africa, going on to win by 7. The tall timber of Jhanielle Fowler and Romelda Aiken were creating strong movement for Thristina Harwood at GA to allow more opportunities for the 2 point and 3 point zones, who was shooting beautifully in the first half giving Jamaica an early lead. Right from the first game we saw the importance of a strong powerplay quarter for each team as the competition progresses with Jamaica shutting South Africa out of the game out scoring them 14 points to 1. The shooting duo of Chrisna Bootha and Maryke Holthausen struggled to score any points and rather than just scoring 1 pointers to stay in touch with Jamaica missed 2 and 3 pointers which was probably there eventual downfall.

The second game of the day saw the Australian Flyers notch up there first ever win in the Fast 5 concept thumping England in one of the surprise performances of the first day 40-19. With a new team and a new team of coaches, many were looking forward to seeing the new and improved Aussie side. After spending last year’s competition winless it seems that they have started to adjust to the shorter version of the game and with co-captain Susan Pratley shooting well from long range, she seems like a perfect fit to the game of Fast 5. England, previously one of the countries that have taken to the shortened versions the best out of all the countries looked hesitant right off the bat and appear to be missing the services of Jo Harten who hasn’t made the trip to Auckland due to injury.

The local’s favourites, the Fast 5 Ferns first stepped out against Jamaica and after a scrappy second quarter pulled away yet again in the powerplay quarter and took out a comfortable win by 21 goals. The midcourt duo of Francois and Langman both sharing the C bib has seen the Ferns not loose any intensity and drive through their transitions, a real feature of their success.  Tactix captain Anna Thompson had a slow start to the game and finished with only 4/11 shots; it will be vital as the competition continues for her to fire to allow some of the pressure to come off the long bomb specialised, Maria Tutaia and keep the defenders guessing. For Jamaica after an ankle injury to young GK Shamera Sterling, the big surprise of the night was Romelda Aiken donning the GK bib in an effort to slow down the Ferns attack. It was worth the gamble but unfortunately did not quite pay off for the Sunshine Girls.

One of the most entertaining games of the day was the battle between Malawi and Jamaica, a real battle going down to the wire with Jhanielle Fowler netting the final goal, a 3 point long bomb to send the crowd favourite Queens away with there 2^nd loss of the day going down by 2 points.  Once again we saw the Romelda Aiken in the GK bib for the Sunshine girls and she had a better performance than her first game against the Ferns. The much shorter Malawi GA Jesse Mazengra did struggle against the long lean and we also saw Aiken pulling out a version of last years ‘Harrison Hoist’ using her fantastic elevation to get up and attempt to disrupt the longer shots all by herself. A prime example of what the crowd’s come to see during the competition.

The final game of the day saw the Fast 5 Ferns face off against the Australian Flyers, both teams having won there opening games of day 1. The big guns were out in force and the formidable combination of Tutaia and Latu started well moving the young Aussie defenders. However Tutaia struggled to regain her hot form from the previous game and was unable to land a shot in the first quarter. The Aussie Flyers used all 4 of their shooters throughout the first quarter and kept the Ferns defenders guessing with each combination that was used. It was the Tutaia show in the 2^nd quarter with a massive 9 points, 3/3 at the three point zone bringing the crowd onto there feet and spurring the home side on to close the gap after a poor first quarter.

Again the importance of the powerplay was seen in the 3^rd quarter with the Ferns impressive and suffocating defence only allowing the Flyers to score one goal and turning the tide towards the Ferns.  Katrina Grant reeled in 2 intercepts, 1 rebound and a couple of deflections to help her team gain the momentum swing.  However from a Ferns point of view the best was yet to come with perennial post shooter Cat Latu slotting a whopping 2 three point shots to extend the lead and allow the Ferns to just concentrate on the 1 point shots, of course in the powerplay worth 2 to keep the lead extending and putting the game well and truly beyond the Australian’s reach.

The Australian Flyers should be very happy with the opening days progress from last year, they are a real chance of making the final perhaps against the Ferns and have done a wonderful job adjusting the fast and furious typical Australian style to the shortened version of the game.

The biggest surprise of the day has been England who has really struggled and from what we have seen so far perhaps a couple more teams could really push hard for a win.

With the competition well and truly underway we should expect to see tougher games over the next 2 days, the nerves should have well and truly disappeared and the wonderful display of netball is sure to continue.

Bring on day 2.

Day 1 Results:

Jamaica 35 v SA 28
England 19 v Australia 40
New Zealand 43 v Jamaica 22
Malawi 37 v Australia 42
England 36 v SA 29
Jamaica 37 v Malawi 35
New Zealand 39 v Australia 26