Netball: Fighting Ferns just fail to head Diamonds

New Zealand goal shoot Bailey Mes contests the ball during last night's international against the Australian Diamonds at Trusts Stadium. Picture / Getty Images

Morale-boosting performance as Aussies record four-match clean sweep

After the series they've had, the Silver Ferns would have been happy to settle for a loss laced with positives heading into last night's final Constellation Cup clash Auckland.

But after taking it to Australia for three quarters and holding a handy 38-34 lead at the final turn, there was a slightly hollow feeling in the New Zealand camp following last night's match after they failed to take their opportunity to put an end to the Diamonds' dominant run.

The Ferns made the Australians look ordinary in patches last night, but in the end they surrendered all too easily as the Diamonds produced a commanding 17-9 final quarter blitz to secure a 4-0 series clean sweep and their ninth straight win over the Kiwi side.

Having been on the verge of pulling off the unthinkable after what energetic midcourter Laura Langman described as a "challenging, slightly traumatic week" following the loss of captain Casey Kopua to a serious knee injury, the result was tough to take. However, once the disappointment wears off, the team will have a much easier job of digging out the positives from the match than after the previous games.

Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu said after three ugly losses, she was pleased her side could finish on a stronger, more confident note.

"I feel a little bit better, we were much more competitive tonight. I felt we probably missed Casey a bit in that last quarter - she tends to be our go-to girl for end of game intercepts and we just didn't take enough ball off them or stop their flow in that last quarter," said Taumaunu.

The key positive Taumaunu took from the result was that her side were able to run with the Australians with a new-look shooting partnership and, for two and bit quarters, a rookie defender.

Taumaunu sprung a shock in her starting line-up, giving Bailey Mes a chance in the run-on side despite some poor showings earlier in the series. While her shooting accuracy left a lot to be desired in the first half, landing just 50 per cent of her shots at goal, Mes did an impressive job of opening up the Ferns attack end, with her strong movement and ability to contest in the air.

Mes might have been hard to watch at times, putting up a couple of cringe-worthy airballs, but the Ferns still managed to rack up their biggest score all series of 47 goals, indicating the rookie was more effective in other areas.

"She took the ball really strongly and was an easy target at the back, and there's no doubt that she eased the congestion at the back," said Taumaunu.

The more fluent attacking performance from the Ferns last night wasn't just down to Mes, she received strong support from veteran shooter Jodi Brown, who stood up to take a lot of the shooting pressure off the rookie, while Grace Rasmussen provided some deft touches with her feeding.

Langman, who led from the front last night after taking over the captaincy reins from Kopua, producing a player of the match performance, said the focus for the attack end heading into the game was on keeping it simple.

"Leading into this test we really focused on letting the ball go and making sure we just do the basics and I thought we really did deliver on that aspect of the game. We had faith, we put it in the air and we got up and we competed for it, which was really pleasing to see."

Langman said the more assured performance gives her side confidence heading into the two-test series against England later this month.

Australia 51
Silver Ferns 47