Netball: Silver Ferns finish pool unbeaten

MELBOURNE - Malawi supplied the entertainment but New Zealand the clinical precision in their last Commonwealth Games preliminary match in Melbourne today, with the Silver Ferns winning 67-39.

It left them top in pool A and they will meet either Jamaica or Australia in Saturday's semifinals, the opponent to be decided on a goal ratio count later tonight.

The New Zealanders shot an early goal but then seem bemused as the Malawi midcourters and defenders spent over 90 seconds firing extravagant passes around the court with no apparent intention of going for goal.

They handled the ball 64 times in the first five minutes of the match.

When they later did go for goal, their goal attack Emma Mzagada and tall shooter Linda Magombo showed they could be an effective partnership with some deft passing in the circle and snappy shooting.

The Silver Ferns only led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter but they gradually stepped up the pace to take a 37-17 lead at halftime and extended that to 57-23 at the three-quarter mark. 
As coach Ruth Aitken rang the changes in the final quarter, experimenting with youthful shooting duo Maria Tutaia and Jessica Tuki, Malawi took full control of some nervousness in the New Zealand attack, and scored 16 goals to 10 much to the delight of the crowd who roared for them throughout.

Aitken said the unorthodox style of Malawi was difficult to combat, but in the third quarter the Silver Ferns found their flowing game.

"We made a lot of changes in the last quarter which can always be unsettling, but I would have preferred if we had marched on," she told NZPA.

She put the poor finish down to the more inexperienced combinations on attack losing some confidence, while on defence "we struggled to keep the pressure on high enough."

Aitken said the experimental phase was over as the team moves into the semifinals.

"We won't have as many surprises (in personnel) as we did today. We will be much more structured but will tweak things as we see fit."

She is for consistency in performance and said she was pleased with the way the attacking links developed during today's game before the final quarter.

Captain Adine Harper said she thought her players were more clinical with the ball today than in previous outings at these Games.

"We really made sure we got the ball right into those hands instead of taking 50:50 ball or putting the 50:50 ball in ...and had much more balance down the court.

- NZPA