Netball: Ferns retain fastnet title

Silver Fern captain Maree Bowden. Photo / Dean Purcell

New Zealand maintained a golden netball run by retaining their fastnet world series title with a hard-fought 28-26 win over England in the tournament final in Liverpool this morning (NZT).

Following their gold medal-winning triumph at last month's Commonwealth Games, a virtual B-strength New Zealand side secured victory in the rarely-seen shortened version of the sport.

On a day of close matches, the defending champions qualified for the final by upsetting top qualifiers Jamaica with a 29-28 semifinal win earlier in the day, while A virtual full-strength England earned their place with a 26-25 win over Australia. Jamaica later beat Australia 30-29 in the match to decide third place.

Under the fastnet format, games are played in six-minute quarters with unlimited substitutions.

The rules allow each team to nominate a power play quarter in which every goal scores double points, while successful shots from outside the circle throughout the game are worth two points.

New Zealand improved throughout the tournament, having opened with a heavy loss to Australia.

The final was a tene affair, with New Zealand leading 11-10 after the first quarter before England battled back to briefly regain the lead during the third quarter.

However, valuable intercepts from midcourters Camilla Lees and Te Paea Selby-Rickit put New Zealand back in front in the final quarter, when both sides used their power play.

Captain Maree Bowden said the young team had come together well after gathering just a week earlier.

"We really wanted it, and stuck together as a team and stuck to the game plan, which was great. I could not be prouder," she said immediately following the match.

"We had a limited time together and it's just great to keep the momentum going up (from the Commonwealth Games)."

Coach Robyn Broughton said the opening loss to Australia had rocked her and her players.

"It was a bit frightening, I though 'oh my goodness, are we going to be able to get up there'," she told Radio Sport.

"It was big heart, lots of resolve and lots of hard work during the week. We only got together last weekend. We trained every day this week because we needed to."

Broughton found the transition to the fastnet game an eye-opener and had to quickly make adjustments.

"You learn quickly that you can't make mistakes. You can't play catch-up, it's too short a time," she said.

"You have to have a pretty secure game plan. You can't keep changing this or change that. You make decisions quickly and make them under pressure."

The shorterned version of the sport, which is growing in popularity in England, had merit as a spectacle in the same vein as sevens rugby or Twenty20 cricket, said Broughton, who advocated the introduction of rolling substitutes and long-range, two-point shooting to regular netball.

- NZPA