By Richard Boock
CHRISTCHURCH - Canada's netballers have surely never had a goal cheered so loudly as the one they scored seven minutes into last night's world championship match against New Zealand. It was, after all, their first.
At that stage, the deficit was a mere 11 goals, but by the time the Silver Ferns had completed their opening night special, that had blown out to 68, as Canada walked off against a 90-22 scoreline.
As a workout, it was probably less useful than a practice session for New Zealand, but the chance to finally take the court after so much waiting - not to mention an opportunity to use the entire squad - would have been appreciated, notwithstanding the flimsy opposition.
In front of a relatively quiet, and increasingly sympathetic crowd, the Ferns rattled on 10 goals before Canada could react, and, though they finally managed to trouble the scorers after seven minutes, there was just four minutes left in the opening quarter before they scored again.
New Zealand led 24-2 at the first-quarter break, 48-8 at half-time, and stretched out to 66-13 at the three-quarter mark before coasting down the stretch.
Canada coach Annie Willcocks said her players were honoured to have played New Zealand, who she described as a "lovely" side.
"I was happy we didn't give up," she said. "New Zealand have beautiful movement through the court, but the girls stuck to their task and worked really hard on defence - despite what the scoreline suggests."
New Zealand coach Yvonne Willering opted for her usual starting seven, with Belinda Colling and Donna Loffhagen in the shooting circle, Anna Rowberry, Julie Seymour and Lesley Nicol through the mid-court, and Bernice Mene and Belinda Charteris in the defensive circle.
However she rang the changes throughout in order to give everyone in the squad some court time, injecting Teresa Tairi and Adine Harper into the shooting circle, Sonya Hardcastle into the mid-court, and Linda Vagana and Lorna Suafoa into the defence end.
"We were pretty much focusing on our own game so the margin of the win didn't really concern us," she said afterwards. "It was a chance to run the whole squad - which was great - and there was enough in that game for us to work on during the next match, against Wales."
There were few problems underneath the hoop for New Zealand, but Canada's goal-attack, Dulcina Wind, made just six attempts from 12 shots, and goal-shoot Patricia Carlson hit 16 from 27.
Netball: Silver Ferns outclass Canadians
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