Silver Ferns 58
Jamaica 35
A 23-goal win and still plenty that can be improved on.
That was the overriding feeling in the Silver Ferns' camp following their dominant win over Jamaica in last night's opening test in Christchurch.
After recovering from an error-ridden first quarter, the Ferns powered to an eight-goal lead at halftime and extended their advantage in each quarter as frustration set in to the Jamaican camp.
Ordinarily a win of that margin over the Sunshine Girls, ranked fourth in the world, would be an impressive result for the Ferns.
But this is an under-strength Jamaican side, missing up to four frontline players.
The New Zealand side were not getting too carried away with their performance.
Ferns defender Katrina Grant, who made an impressive impact off the bench in the second half, said her team would take heart they managed such a dominant win. but still had plenty they could work on.
"It is good for us that there is still a lot we can build on.
"We are aiming for Commonwealth Games gold and so we have to strive to be our absolute best. We haven't reached that yet, but it's pretty exciting to think what we can achieve if we do play our best," she said.
One of the key areas they will be looking for in the second and final test in Napier on Saturday will be trying to stamp their dominance from the outset.
"Our start was a little bit slow, but I think we had to grind out there in the last three quarters.
"We kind of had to push through and not allow them to take any confidence heading in to the second test.
"But next time we'll be keen to come out firing."
Ferns coach Ruth Aitken noted earlier in the week the Jamaicans got "burnt for speed" by the slick Australian attack line in their three-test series last week.
The starting seven perhaps signalled the Ferns' intentions of doing the same, with Aitken opting for a small but more dynamic midcourt line-up of Liana Barrett-Chase at wing-attack and Temepara George at centre, which forced Laura Langman back to wing defence.
Desperate to put up a better fight than they did across the Tasman, the Jamaicans started strongly, committing themselves to every ball on defence. The strength and athleticism of the visitors initially looked to rattle New Zealand, who took some time to find their rhythm on attack.
Barrett-Chase committed two early errors but later found her feet, providing some brilliant feeds to Irene van Dyk.
But the linking between Maria Tutaia and her outside feeders was ordinary, with the first quarter marred by frequent miscommunications in her interplay around the attacking third.
With eight turnovers and five bad passes committed by the Ferns in the opening spell, they held a narrow 11-10 lead at the first break.
Disappointed with such a poor start, they came out firing after the break, gaining the impetus with some strong defensive work.
The Kiwi defence did not let up after halftime, even with the injection of Grant at goal-keep and Joline Henry at wing-defence, and frustration took hold in the Jamaica shooting circle.
