England Netball fall short after epic win over New Zealand

Bad luck hit the England Netball team again as they were beaten 52-38 by the Sliver Ferns in the final test of the Taini Jamison Trophy series at Palmerston North New Zealand. Despite winning the first test 42-38 at Rotorua the girls just couldn’t finish how they started and fell apart in the third and fourth quarter against a ruthless New Zealand side.

Lollipop and I actually thought England stood a chance after sealing just their fourth win ever against the Silver Ferns. The Taini Jamison champions looked almost average after suffering their sixth straight loss against our girls. But as usual England capitulated.

The Silver Ferns showed far more intent in the first 15 minutes. GS Cathrine Latu ensured her team got an early 3 nil lead and they gained momentum to end the first quarter with a 14-11 lead.

But the New Zealand side could not increase their lead as Team Bath’s Rachel Dunn’s flawless shooting kept England in the game. The Ferns only led 26-21 at half-time.

England’s Jade Clarke moved to Centre and Hertfordshire Mavericks’ Sasha Corbin came on as Wing Attack for the third quarter but the girls just could not get a string of shots going. The Ferns built on defensive pressure with 20-year-old Leana de Bruin coming on at goal keeper for Temalisi Fakahokotau. Another narrow loss meant England were trailing 38-32.

New Zealand’s girls knew they only had to win by five and the gap just grew in the last 15 minutes. Goal attack Jodi Brown soon increased the lead to 9 and the Ferns began to dominate. Despite Dunn netting 16 out of 16 the game was already lost and ended 52-38 to the dominant hosts.

Similar to the Commonwealth Games this summer England just could not see out their performance. Lollipop believed a stunning win on Tuesday over the Ferns would have inspired the girls but they faded fast in the last 15 minutes.

The team is improving though. A win over New Zealand is an incredible achievement.

England captain Jade Clarke said “We came out firing, we’re still hurting from the Commonwealth Games where it went the other way. It went from a 10-goal lead down to a two, so we just had to withstand that pressure at the end.”

But Lollipop is urging coach Anna Mayes to take more chances. Manchester Thunder’s GS Helen Housby travelled as part of the team to New Zealand but was not given any court time. Even when England had reconciled to losing the second game of the series Mayes did not look to bring on the 19-year-old shooter who clinched her Superleague side the title last season. And that could be one of the main differences between the two sides that played today. The Silver Ferns are willing to take chances on their younger players like Leana de Bruin which allows them to develop on an international stage.

They also believe in their side. Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu added after their loss on Tuesday “Fundamentally I thought we should have won tonight and we didn’t. And that is far harder to take.”

Despite not playing at their best the Ferns still believed they should have beaten our girls and came out eager to win another consecutive series over England.

Injured captain Pamela Cookey tweeted: “It finishes 52 NZ 38 ENG heads up though ladies this is the beginning of the season #uniteinred.”

The match was a great start and excellent practice for the upcoming Fast5 tournament in Auckland which is to be played next weekend.

But whether England’s gutsy young players get a call out who knows Lollipop.

New Zealand starting line up: Cathrine Latu, Jodi Brown, Grace Rasmussen, Laura Langman, Joline Henry, Katrina Grant, Temalisi Fakahokotau.

England starting line up: Jo Harten, Rachel Dunn, Jade Clarke, Sara Bayman, Serena Guthrie, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Geva Mentor.