Netball: Silver Ferns lose their cool

By Richard Boock

CHRISTCHURCH - Wales could lay fair claim to causing the first upset at these world netball championships even though they lost to New Zealand by 46 goals yesterday afternoon.

The Silver Ferns were left fuming over the defensive tactics of their opponents after powering to their second massive win in as many days, the 73-27 margin built on domination through the middle two quarters of the match, when the Welsh were outscored to the tune of 44-9.

Although the win pushed New Zealand's for-against goal-ratio out to an absurd 163-49 after just two games, there were few smiles to be seen afterwards, with both captain Belinda Colling and coach Yvonne Willering unsure with whom they were most miffed - the Welsh defence or the match umpires.

The pair said the umpires should have cautioned the Welsh defenders for persistent offending in and around the shooting circle, particularly in the last quarter.

"I think it was getting out of hand at times, and in the final quarter especially," said Willering, adding that netball might soon need to follow cricket's lead and introduce umpire reports, to be filled in by each captain.

"I'd love to have that brought in, but I can't see it happening. We just had a couple of inexperienced umpires and this was the result. Instead of just penalising the Welsh all the time they probably should have stepped in and said something."

Colling was visibly annoyed with some of the attention she was attracting around the circle, most of it obstruction or contact on the ball, and her shooting fell off alarmingly at times, raising more questions about the consistency of her shot, and the likelihood of her being singled out by opposition defences at the business end of the tournament.

"I think we can expect more of the same from now on," she said after shooting 33 goals from 45 attempts. "I was pretty disappointed with this, we were getting topped and hit all game and the umpires definitely should have done something about it.

"I felt like reacting, like doing something about it myself, my body-language must have shown how frustrated I was. But on the other hand it was a real wake-up call for us after the Canadian match. It was like, 'welcome back to international netball'."

Unable to get the freedom they enjoyed against Canada on Wednesday evening, New Zealand actually came from behind, recovering from a slow start to lead 14-7 at the first quarter, 38-12 at half-time, and 58-16 at the three- quarter mark.

Willering was again able to play her entire squad, this time starting Linda Vagana with Bernice Mene at the back, with Lesley Nicol, Julie Seymour and Sonya Hardcastle in mid-court, and Colling and Donna Loffhagen in the circle.

That combination ran until the halfway point, at which time Willering began calling the changes, bringing defenders Lorna Suafoa and Belinda Charteris, goal-shoot Teresa Tairi and utility attack Adine Harper into the game.

Neither Vagana nor Suafoa was unduly troubled by Wales' 6ft 4in goal-shoot Mair Evans, who - though tall - could turn only slightly quicker than a bottle of milk, and struggled throughout to position herself for her feeders.

Through the court, though, there was a distinct improvement in New Zealand's transition game when Rowberry - who combined superbly with Colling and Tairi during the third quarter - replaced Hardcastle at wing-attack, while Harper did her level best in the same position through the final 15 minutes.