Fitting send-off for Ferns legend
The FAST5 Ferns have pulled off a legendary three-peat in the FAST5 Netball World Series with a heart-in-the-throat 35-31 final victory over archrivals the Australian Flyers in Auckland tonight.
The win was a fitting farewell to Auckland, hosts of the tournament for the past three years, and to the Ferns' injured shooter Irene van Dyk at the end of her international playing career.
The Ferns have never lost a game since the five-a-side version of the game was introduced, and they were desperate to hold on to that record, even though a string of pre-tournament injuries and a gutsy Flyers side came close to breaking the spell.
A rousing send off to netball legend van Dyk before the match lifted the Ferns' spirits - with a perfectly-timed intercept by Katrina Grant and three quick goals from Bailey Mes.
But the Flyers replied in kind, forcing the Ferns into unnecessary errors and taking more risks with their shots in the two-point zone, jumping out to a 7-4 at the first break.
The Ferns shooters got into a rhythm in the second spell.
Mes was happy to put up two-point shots, and succeeded with most of them, but it was a stunning three-point shot on the halftime buzzer by Ellen Halpenny - shot from closer to the transverse line than the goal - that set the entire Vector Arena alight, and gave the Ferns a 15-10 advantage before entering their powerplay period.
Flyers keeper Kate Shimmin stole a crucial ball destined for Mes to start the quarter, and jolted the Ferns' confidence.
Masters of defending the powerplay, the Flyers poured the pressure on to the Ferns' shooters, and Erin Bell kept chipping away at the deficit from under the Australian hoop.
With a 27-15 lead going into the final quarter, there were two burning questions: was it enough of a lead for New Zealand to defend, or could the sharp-eyed Australians hold their nerve to make the most of their double-scoring opportunity?
Mes continued to top up the Ferns' tally at one end, but two six-pointers from Bell - one with only 20s left on the clock - brought the Flyers agonisingly close to upsetting the defending champs.
Calm heads and sure hands - and a final goal from Halpenny - locked in a New Zealand victory.
The England Fives were determined to end their tour downunder on a high in their play-off for third against the Jamaican Sunshine Girls, and they did so in nerve-wracking fashion, winning 31-30.
The Fives had lost Serena Guthrie with an arm injury in an earlier tussle with Jamaica and weren't prepared to lose any more.
Neck and neck for much of the match, a Thristina Harwood six-point special put Jamaica up 24-19 going into the final spell.
But with English centre Jade Clarke on fire, and Jo Harten bagging safe shots under the hoop, the Fives sealed a much hoped-for victory and a much improved result on last year's 6th.
Clarke couldn't stress enough how important the win was to the Fives.
"It was the end of a chapter for us. We played Jamaica for third at the Commonwealth Games and lost, and we know we didn't perform in our other game against them today, so it really was a grudge match.
"So it was really nice to go out on a high with all ten people giving an amazing performance," she said.
Earlier in the evening Malawi and South Africa squared off in the battle for fifth and sixth and after 24 minutes of intense play, it was SPAR South Africa FAST5 who take bragging rights back to the African continent, winning the match 30-22.
South Africa's Vanes-Mari Du Toit was impressed with her team's noticeable improvement.
"As a team, South Africa has grown throughout this tournament a lot and we filled the missing pieces with hard work. We gelled as a team," she said.
"We're really happy to walk away beating Malawi twice - they are our biggest competition at home but now we are officially South Africa's FAST5 queens."
