Sliver Ferns Win!!

Story courtsey of yahooxtra
At the heart of New Zealand's outstanding 59-40 win over Australia in the second netball test in Wellington yesterday was coach Ruth Aitken's fiendishly simple plan.


After losing the first test in Adelaide last Sunday by five, Aitken and her coaching staff latched onto the perfect way to lift the players' intensity.


"We basically unleashed the defence on the attacks," she said, in a manner which sounded unnervingly similar to an order to "release the hounds".


The tactic proved hugely effective -- players left nothing in reserve on the training court, and played at a similar pitch in last night's runaway win.


"It's really hard because often there's a preservation mode that happens in trainings," Aitken said. "But we agreed we had to put pressure on more in the training environment, and the players bought into it."


After surviving the onslaught of Casey Williams, Leana de Bruin, Anna Scarlett and Katrina Grant in training, the Silver Ferns' shooters possibly found the Australian defensive line-up last night a breeze in comparison.






New Zealand won every quarter, stretching a 16-11 lead after 15 minutes to 31-19 at halftime. The third quarter proved Australia's best -- they lost it by only three -- as the Silver Ferns led 45-30 at the three-quarter mark before closing out the win with an emphatic final 15 minutes.


Their performance forced Australian coach Norma Plummer into an early replacement, as she turned to 1.96m defender Susan Fuhrmann at the end of the first quarter.


In Adelaide, Fuhrmann's final quarter appearance rattled New Zealand shooter Irene van Dyk, and the Diamonds turned a one-goal deficit at the last break into a five-goal win.


Last night, van Dyk remained calm, goal attack Maria Tutaia upped her work-rate and the New Zealand lead expanded.


Such was the New Zealand dominance, Plummer also pulled abrasive goal defence Mo'onia Gerrard at halftime, a tactic which Aitken found quietly satisfying.


"Maria did a fantastic job against her -- the volume of shots she was putting up made her such a threat. I think that's about the only time I've seen Mo'onia subbed."


Captain Williams was equally satisfied with her team's effort.


"We made things happen ourselves, and when we had the lead, we put out foot down and made it harder for them," she said.


"We prepared more, our trainings were much more intense. We knew we had it in us, we just had to prove ourselves and believe in ourselves."

The Silver Ferns were primed for the match, celebrating with high fives, fist bumps and big smiles when things went their way.


"We wanted to acknowledge when we do good stuff, because it lifts the team," Williams said.


"We were believing in ourselves, that we were better than them, and we put the foot down. There was a need for that, and it was hard not to smile."


Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the win would have to be the fact that 11 of Aitken's 12-strong bench took the court, with Grant the unlucky one to miss game time.


The win was, however, a real team effort -- defence, midcourt and shooters melding together a seamless 60-minute game to totally shut out the confident Australians.


Aitken isn't about to get too carried away, however, with the series decider still to come in Auckland on Sunday.


"We have to keep evolving. This was wonderful, but it was one night, and we're all back to square one again come Sunday."


"We need to re-establish ourselves. There's no doubt it's a huge confidence boost, but we do need to look at the consistency from here on in."


Aitken was cagey about whether a series win or next month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi was the more important.


"We want to win both -- we're greedy, greedy coaches," she said. "We do want to keep building our options, but the way we have to do that is to try and not compromise our performance."


New Zealand and Australia both wanted to win the series, she added, "but it's definitely the battle and not the war".


"Australia will come back -- they're very proud, very skilled and talented, and we will have to match that intensity and push on further."