Ferns face challenge to back up win
Ending long losing streak to Diamonds satisfying but coach and captain now want to establish consistency
The Silver Ferns may have ticked off a win against the Australian Diamonds but the improved national side now face an even bigger challenge — backing it up.
Dominating the court in Sunday’s third Constellation Cup encounter at Hamilton’s Claudelands Arena, the Ferns ended their nine-match skid against the Diamonds, stunning the world champions with a decisive 11-goal victory.
Not allowing the Diamonds to get ahead at any stage of the transtasman clash, the Ferns soared to their first significantly positive result since their embarrassing Commonwealth Games campaign in April, showcasing exciting potential under new head coach Noeline Taurua.
However, it wasn’t all smiles after the clash from Taurua and Silver Ferns captain Laura Langman, with the pair aware of the challenge ahead and improvements required.
While delighted to claim the elusive win, Langman was wary of it becoming a one-off if the Silver Ferns fell short on Thursday night.
“It’s an opportunity for us to put a stake in the ground and get a measure of what we need to do to be consistent,” Langman said. “The Silver Ferns have been renowned for being one-hit wonders and that’s certainly something we want to address in the group. For me, the win, I would describe it as reinforcement and an opportunity to back it up.”
Taurua was quick to identify areas she wanted to address, deeming the 55-44 win a far-from-solid 60-minute performance.
“The win will give us huge selfbelief knowing that we can foot it with the Australians but also you know you’re back to business,” Taurua said.
“It’s a great testing for us that we don’t get carried away with ourselves and that we can still go through the same processes and once again foot it in test four.
“I don’t know that things are on track at this stage, it’s too early to call. It does show the things we’re doing off court, things about strategy, our team meetings, all the detail underneath, it does work.
“It is consistency, being able to back up from what we did previously. I’m absolutely rapt we’re still in the game but we’ve got to be able to put the deeds out on court and put it into action, and time will tell whether we can back ourselves up.”
Sunday’s result put the Silver Ferns back in contention for the Constellation Cup but they will need a massive 14-goal win on Thursday to claim the trophy.
The Ferns travelled to Wellington yesterday in preparation for what will need to be an all-or-nothing performance as they seek to claim the title for the first time since 2012.