Dominant Kiwis upset Diamonds
THE sweet shooting of Maria Folau, gritty defence and the magic touch of new coach Noeline Taurua has seen the Silver Ferns thwart the Diamonds’ bid to equal and then surpass their record 10 game winning run with New Zealand scoring their first victory over the world No. 1 side in a year in the crucial third test of the Constellation Cup.
In a classic arm wrestle between two of netball’s oldest rivals, Sydney netballer JamieLee Price made her debut in a match the Diamonds might want to forget. The Australia side was beaten in every quarter of a match against New Zealand for the first time in eight years and trailed by as many as 13 goals before falling to the Silver Ferns 55-44 in Wellington.
The upset, less than two months after two-time Super Netball winning coach Taurua stepped into the head role, has also forced the Constellation Cup to the final match of the series in Hamilton on Thursday. Folau was outstanding for the Silver Ferns with 40 goals from 41 as was the New Zealand defence. Despite her short time with the team which failed to medal at the Commonwealth Games for the first time earlier this year, Taurua has helped transform the Silver Ferns from a side low on morale to one full of passion and pride. The win came just over a year after the Ferns downed the Diamonds 57-47 in a Quad Series game in September 2017 and after nine straight losses to their old foes..
“I’m just really disappointed. We never got out of first gear,’’ Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander said.