Diamonds reassert their dominance over Ferns
WELLINGTON: Just as captain Laura Langman feared, the Silver Ferns’ onehit wonder reputation lives on.
From an 11goal win to a disastrous 11goal loss, the Ferns were unable to backup Sunday’s convincing victory over the Australian Diamonds as they went down 5847 in the fourth and final test of the Constellation Cup in Wellingbton last night.
After restoring some hope in the hearts of New Zealand fans fans, it was the Ferns’ opportunity to prove the doubters wrong and confirm things were heading in the right direction.
However, in a stark contrast to Sunday’s massive win, the Ferns struggled to hold any composure with an errorridden performance far from the expected international standard.
Head coach Noeline Taurua struggled to identify any positives from the humbling loss and said it highlighted plenty of areas individuals needed to work on over the short break before January’s Quad Series campaign.
‘‘I don’t know if there are positives coming out of that, I’m not too sure, but I’ve been able to see people out on court and know once against what we need to do,’’ Taurua said.
‘‘It wasn’t consistent in terms of delivery or the final execution of putting the shots through, so close yet so far.’’
Langman said she was disappointed her side was unable to finish the promising campaign on a high.
‘‘When you pull on the black dress, the expectation is to put out a performance that we’re proud of and I think if you were to go around to each player tonight they would be pretty disappointed with what was out there.
‘‘I think we can be toe to toe with them. I just think it was execution tonight and our decision making we were caught two steps behind."
The Silver Ferns were largely on the back foot throughout the lively and physical match with miscommunications and a lack of connection between players gifting the Diamonds plenty of ball.
As warned by Australian coach Lisa Alexander, the Dia monds hit the court with stunning pace in the opening quarter of the transtasman clash while the Ferns were left scrambling.
Sharpshooter Maria Folau, who netted a careerbest 40 from 41 goals in test three, struggled to produce a solid performance while TePaea SelbyRickit became increasingly hesitant under the hoop with the pressure from inform Australian defenders Jo Weston and Courtney Bruce.
Young shooter Maia Wilson and Aliyah Dunn were given opportunities in the circle, but it seemed not one of the Ferns’ shooters could find their form.
All their percentages were
well below average.
Similarly, the Ferns’ defence unit performed far from its best andvicecaptain Katrina Grant was benched in the second quarter.
Sulu Fitzpatrick was given the nod at goal keep as Jane Watson moved into goal defence, but the changes did not make much of an impact as the Diamonds stormed ahead.
The Silver Ferns managed to hold some ground in the final quarter as things started to settle but a more consistent Australia held the edge.
The Ferns only have only one shot at redemption over the Diamonds in January’s Quad Series before the World Cup in July. — NZME