Fast 5 Day 2

Fast, furious and fierce, day 2 of the Fast 5 netball competition saw an increase in the intensity and a couple of edge of your seat games keeping all spectators involved right to the final whistle in this shortened version.

The first game of the day saw England continue their struggle in this season’s competition and failed to really stamp their mark on the game against Jamaica. As we have seen throughout the competition the powerplay for Jamaica in the 3^rd quarter was England’s downfall with the Sunshine girls outscoring their opponents 20-1. The continued use of Romelda Aiken in the GK position was paying dividends with England struggling to shoot over her long reach as well as her imposing height helping her nab 6 defensive rebounds for her team. England continued to struggle in goals, only netting 3/13 at the 3-point line and again highlighting the hole that Jo Harten has left with her injury forcing her out of the competition. However a positive for England was seeing captain Serena Guthrie back on court for the first time in the competition, her impact was evident right from the first whistle but it just wasn’t enough to get her team across the line and claim the win.

The Fast 5 Ferns continued their dominance at the event by powering past the Malawi Queens 48-18 and as always long bomb specialist Maria Tutaia continued her red hot form slotting 4/9 at the 3 point arc including one in the powerplay giving the Ferns the lead to carry on throughout the rest of the game.  The Ferns main strategy at this competition has been to smother opposition teams during their powerplays, and then pushing out the lead during their own.  At the start of the competition and with the Ferns side named I did have reservations about the depth within the shooting circle but with all 3 goalers used against Malawi slotting 3 point shots it shows the versatility of the team and as a result the team continues to feed off each other bringing a confidence to the court.

South Africa facing off against the Australian Flyers saw the first of a string of close encounters during the middle portion of the day. A tightly contested match the Flyers edged out to an early lead and went into the South African powerplay in the 3^rd quarter ahead 21-9. It was then the Chrisna Bootha show with the South African GS slotting an impressive ¾ at the 3 point zone, ably assisted by Holtzhausen with a 6 pointer of her own and pulling their team back into contention, setting up a final quarter shooting showdown.  Unfortunately for the Aussie Flyers a couple of costly mistakes was the nail in the coffin, including a brain fart from Demelza McCloud, trying to pass the ball into the goal post on a backline throw in badly back fired and saw the South Africans slot a vital 2 point shot to keep the lead. The Flyers however had a chance to win or draw the game but GA Gretel Tippett attempted a 6 point shot with less than 6 seconds on the clock. Perhaps it was a brain fade from the youngster and she just simply forgot that it was their powerplay quarter and with a single 1 point goal the Flyers would have claimed the win.

The crowd favourite Malawi Queens got there first win of the competition, complete with rolly polly’s and celebratory dance moves worthy of a final hanging on to beat England 35-32. At times the Malawi girls were looking as though the recent international test tour was taking its toll and perhaps would lead to their demise. A good powerplay quarter before half time saw Malawi play smart and concise netball, capitalising on the 1 point shots under the goal post worth 2 points and continuing to edge the lead out, putting pressure on England in their powerplay quarter to follow. England were guilty of 17 turnovers which was simply too many to reel back in as well as once again their poor shooting percentage of 2/11 at the 3 point zone.

One of the biggest margin’s seen at the Fast 5 competition was between the Fast 5 Ferns and South Africa, with the Ferns notching up 58 points to 31, claiming a new record in the process.  The first half saw a fairly even contest from both teams and at half time the Ferns held a slim lead 19-14, what followed however was the real fun of Fast 5. Maria Tutaia continued her hot hand with the 3 point shots, and with the powerplay quarter converted 15 points from outside the goal circle, basically putting the game beyond reach of even the strong shooting combination of Holtzhausen and Bootha. It was mentioned in the post match comments by South African GK Vanes Mari du Toit, “when Tutaia is shooting like that she is simply unstoppable”, not much any defender could possibly do to stop the points ticking over, except try their best to keep Tutaia out of the shooting range and put as much pressure possible over the shot. A lot easier said that done from what we have seen.

Jamaica and Australia fought hard over a draw in the 3^rd final match of the day and as a result it has most likely set up a rematch tomorrow in the semi final to decide who will take on the Fast 5 Ferns for the title. The Australian defenders, McCloud, Bruce and Weston were doing a fantastic job keeping Jhanielle Fowler towards the outer shooting rings, forcing the GS to take the longer range shots, an unsual factor from her game in the regular version of the game and as a result she struggled to convert possession into points. The young 18 year old GK for the Sunshine Girls, Shamera Stirling continued to impress against some of the big name goalers and was combining beautifully with captain Malysha Kelly to disrupt the Flyers goaler’s and gain valuable turnover ball. As we previously saw earlier at the competition, Romelda Aiken was given the GK bib in the Australian powerplay quarter to put pressure over the shots of the Flyers, but Susan Pratley was up to the task and carried the majority of the shooting load, stepping up to the pressure and slotted a 2 point goal after the final whistle had gone to draw the game for her team. A concern for the Flyers as they head into finals day would be Vixens GA Tegan Caldwell who has struggled with the longer shots that this format typically requires and can hopefully find her shooting range tomorrow to add another string to the bow of the Australian attack.

South Africa set themselves up for a semi final clash against New Zealand in tomorrow’s semi finals with a victory over Malawi, gaining the upper hand in the African Fast 5 bragging rights. Malawi continued to show the flair and flamboyance they have become synonymous with in the last few seasons, but at times seem to incur the whistle and have been guilty a few times in this competition of giving away deliberate and lazy penalties particularly on the outside of the goal circle. However it gave Chrisna Bootha further opportunities to give Tutaia a run for her money in the 3 point tally and finished the match with impressive stats of 6/10 at the 2 point zone and ¾ at the 3 point zone. A big loss for the South Africans early in the match saw Du Toit leave with an ankle injury and potentially that could be the end of her competition. A favourite with the crowd both on and off the court it would be a big blow for their hopes of causing an upset against the favourites New Zealand tomorrow in Day 3 action.

Lastly New Zealand completed the pool play unbeaten in a scrappy win against England to solidify their place a top the competition ladder. Silly turnovers, bad pass and a couple of incorrect shooting options saw the Ferns let England back into the game as they entered their powerplay quarter. Anna Thompson could not continue her fine form from earlier in the day and struggled to find the goals, only nailing ¼ at the 1 point zone, 1/1 at the 2 point zone and 0/1 at the 3 point zone. As the margin continued to close by England in the final spell, the Ferns coaching staff opted to keep their strongest lineup on court to see out the win, a little bit too close for comfort for the spectators and also the players.

The action from today has been exhilarating both on and off the court and once again this format continues to gain fans both far and wide, with not only the Auckland crowd getting into the fun and excitement at the arena but the games have also been televised as far away as the Caribbean for the Jamaican locals to support their girls. Netball continues to go global and each step is great progress for our game.

Hope you all enjoyed the action and lets see what the 3^rd and final day has in store for us.