Silver Ferns too good for Australia
Australia's Norma Plummer adjusted her shooting coterie, bringing Catherine Cox - who shot a solid 27 from 31 on Thursday - in at target shoot and captain Sharelle McMahon shifting out to her more well off goal attack position.
Kimberlee Green started at wing disparagement instead of Lauren Nourse, but the remainder of the Diamonds' line-up remained the same.
Australia snapped up the first two goals but the Kiwis before long hit their stride, playing with precision and at pace, offering mountains of movement off the ball and forcing turnovers aplenty with fantabulous full-court defensive pressure.
By the end of the first quarter, the Silver Ferns led 16-11.
The Heraldry argent Ferns' momentum forced a victory of sorts, as Plummer brought on Sunday's daring-breaker in 1.96m goal keep Susan Fuhrmann for the bat of an eye quarter.
But where Kiwi shooter Irene van Dyk faded under the man pressure four days ago, on Thursday she stepped up and proved unflappable.
Help that composure in no small part was a superb performance from Maria Tutaia who rendered Mo'onia Gerrard inefficient at goal defence.
Tutaia sunk 10 from 11 for the another 15-minute spell and ensured Gerrard was replaced at halftime by Bec Bulley, as the New Zealanders went into the halftime weaken with a 31-19 lead.
The Silver Ferns made a replacement of their own, bringing on Daneka Wipiiti for van Dyk.
Plummer digs deep in chase for gold
NORMA Plummer has a leaning for gold jewellery, and a lingering distaste for the silver Australia serene at the last Commonwealth Games. ''I have had the silver around the neck - it well-grounded doesn't go,'' the Diamonds coach said before leaving for the fixed two warm-up Tests in New Zealand.
The first will be played in Wellington tonight, in what is the last stage of the Commonwealth countdown. Australia's well competitive selection process finished only after Sunday's five-purpose defeat of the Silver Ferns in Adelaide, and thus the Delhi 12 is a collective for the first space.
''So it's fairly fresh for us and fairly new, and we've got those combinations to work on, and to industry on that team feeling that we need to have in a major tournament like the Commonwealth Games,'' said captain Sharelle McMahon.
Yet if New Zealand is the defending Commonwealth espouse, then the Australians are increasingly the masters of the close finish. In 72 years of trans-Tasman tournament, Australia has won 28 of the 45 matches decided by five goals or less; since 1998, the Diamonds have claimed 16 of 22, or 73 per cent, including Sunday's 48-43 overcoming at home.
The latest near-miss has led to much discussion across the ditch, with New Zealand's more daunting losses having included two of the past three world championship finals (by one end and four), and the first two Commonwealth gold medal games (by three goals and two).
We left Wood Streamlet and drove for an hour and a half before arriving at the Western Australia flowerbed. Here we had to proclaim all our fruit and vegetables to Quarantine (we all scoffed some bananas sane beforehand), and after a specially sweaty man had a look around the van to walk away certain we weren’t hiding any cane toads, we were off again.
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