Morale-boosting away win for Silver Ferns
October 13, 2016
The Silver Ferns 53-51 win in Wednesday’s second Constellation Cup Test has injected a timely dose of confidence ahead of the New Zealand leg of the series.
Following on from Sydney’s 12-goal First Test loss, the Silver Ferns balanced the ledger with a much-improved outing and well-crafted two-goal win in Tasmania. The teams are now preparing to resume the eagerly awaited final two matches of the New World Netball Series in Auckland (on Saturday) and Invercargill (on Thursday).
``It’s credit to everyone in the whole group that we made such a big improvement between the first and second Tests,’’ Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby said.
``We knew that we let ourselves down in Sydney, it just wasn’t good enough. We did a thorough debrief afterwards, learnt a lot from it and continue to grow as a group.
``We always believed we could do it and this (result) is just what we needed to prove that and now we’re looking forward to the next two games.’’
Injected into the starting line-up, an injury-free Anna Harrison relished the opportunity of a full game, her influence from the custodian’s position after last playing goalkeeper for the Silver Ferns in 2011, being a particular feature.
``It really came back to everyone doing their job,’’ Southby said. ``Certainly, Anna got her hand to a lot of ball that we weren’t getting a hand to the other night (first test) and that’s because we put pressure on the passes out in front.
``It’s one of Anna’s strengths but I think the work Katrina (Grant), Laura (Langman), Shannon (Francois) particularly and a little bit further up where we let ourselves down the other night was the big difference. We managed to put the pressure on right through the game this time and I was really pleased with everyone’s contribution.’’
Rookie shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit showed as much poise as the veteran defender with her polished outing through the first half and final quarter where she returned the impressive figures of 17 goals from 21 attempts.
``I was a bit surprised to get the start,’’ she said. ``I’m quite new to the group but these girls, especially the leaders in our team, have been really encouraging which has given me confidence and made me feel comfortable in my role.’’
There are great seats available for the final two Tests in Auckland and Invercargill – GET TICKETS.
Following on from Sydney’s 12-goal First Test loss, the Silver Ferns balanced the ledger with a much-improved outing and well-crafted two-goal win in Tasmania. The teams are now preparing to resume the eagerly awaited final two matches of the New World Netball Series in Auckland (on Saturday) and Invercargill (on Thursday).
``It’s credit to everyone in the whole group that we made such a big improvement between the first and second Tests,’’ Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby said.
``We knew that we let ourselves down in Sydney, it just wasn’t good enough. We did a thorough debrief afterwards, learnt a lot from it and continue to grow as a group.
``We always believed we could do it and this (result) is just what we needed to prove that and now we’re looking forward to the next two games.’’
Injected into the starting line-up, an injury-free Anna Harrison relished the opportunity of a full game, her influence from the custodian’s position after last playing goalkeeper for the Silver Ferns in 2011, being a particular feature.
``It really came back to everyone doing their job,’’ Southby said. ``Certainly, Anna got her hand to a lot of ball that we weren’t getting a hand to the other night (first test) and that’s because we put pressure on the passes out in front.
``It’s one of Anna’s strengths but I think the work Katrina (Grant), Laura (Langman), Shannon (Francois) particularly and a little bit further up where we let ourselves down the other night was the big difference. We managed to put the pressure on right through the game this time and I was really pleased with everyone’s contribution.’’
Rookie shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit showed as much poise as the veteran defender with her polished outing through the first half and final quarter where she returned the impressive figures of 17 goals from 21 attempts.
``I was a bit surprised to get the start,’’ she said. ``I’m quite new to the group but these girls, especially the leaders in our team, have been really encouraging which has given me confidence and made me feel comfortable in my role.’’
There are great seats available for the final two Tests in Auckland and Invercargill – GET TICKETS.