Netball: Ferns prepare to face Jamaica in semifinal

7.45am

MANCHESTER - The Silver Ferns saw off the last of their Commonwealth Games netball easy-beats with a routine 81-23 win over Wales.

The fourth straight victory of a so-far impressive campaign followed the same pattern of their previous three pool wins.

New Zealand raced to the front from the opening whistle, led 17-7 at quarter time and pulled away steadily with little hindrance.

The competition now gets a whole lot tougher for the Silver Ferns, who will have to overcome world No 3 Jamaica and No 1 Australia in their semifinal and final to win gold.

New Zealand face a probable semifinal showdown with Jamaica after the Caribbean side crashed to a 60-33 loss against an impressive Australia in their final pool match.

Jamaica would be expected to beat Wales in a qualification match tomorrow, which will determine who faces the Silver Ferns.

Unbeaten defending champions Australia advanced directly to the semifinals and will play the winner of a match between England and South Africa.

Tonight's match lacked the atmosphere of the 67-35 win over England yesterday, with only about half the crowd in attendance.

At times New Zealand's attacking play corresponded, struggling in patches to get flow into their passage of the ball downcourt, often due to unforced errors.

Their best periods of the game were the second and fourth quarters, which they won 20-4 and 22-3.

More impressive was the Silver Ferns defence, marshalled superbly by goal keep Linda Vagana, which kept the Welsh attackers hesitant for options and under pressure with their shooting throughout the match.

Coach Ruth Aitken opted to rest key goal shoot Irene Van Dyk and goal keep Vilimaina Davu, the first time she hasn't played the entire squad in a match. Davu suffered cramps in the game against England.

The old firm of Loffhagen and Belinda Colling formed an effective combination up front in the first half, with Loffhagen shooting particularly well. Daneka Wipiiti showed her best form of the tournament at goal shoot when brought on at halftime.

New Zealand scored 365 goals in their four pool matches and conceded just 101, with an average score of 91-25.

Meanwhile Fiji, coached by former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering, earlier completed a disappointing tournament with a 44-46 loss to Barbados, their fourth-straight defeat.

Loffhagen shot 35 of New Zealand's goals from just 38 attempts, Colling was nearly as accurate nailing 23 from 27 while Daneka Wipiiti managed 23 from 35.

Aitken said Davu was rested because of a strained hamstring after being mis-diagnosed with cramp during the match against England.

The New Zealanders have a rest day tomorrow and it was hoped the big Fijian-born goal keep would be fit to train on Friday.

Van Dyk was resting a strained knee, although Aitken said there were no concerns about her fitness.

The coach agreed it was their least impressive showing of the Games.

"It was pretty flat really, we didn't start with the punch that we wanted to," she told NZPA.

"But it's a good lesson and we'll take away from this that you have to really establish things right from the start.

"We've had three games that have gone pretty well for us so far, so this was a bit of a reality check."

- NZPA

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