Netball: Silver Ferns fall one short after fightback

The Silver Ferns were beaten by one goal against Austrlia to lose the fourth test of the Trans-tasman series 46-47 in Invercargill. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand staged comeback after comeback only to fall short 46-47 in the fourth netball test against Australia at Stadium Southland.

The Silver Ferns fought back time and again from ominous deficits right through the match but in the final hectic minutes the Diamonds held strong as the two sides battled right down to the final whistle.

Behind at the end of each quarter, the Silver Ferns showed huge commitment and with the scores tied at 46-46 with just one minute to go they looked poised for a hard-earned win.

Instead, intense mid court pressure, with Renae Hallinan, Natalie von Bertouch and Kimberlee Green working overtime, forced the vital turnover as the Diamonds stretched their lead in the five-match series to 3-1.

New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken fielded the same line-up who lost to the Diamonds 33-36 a week ago in Brisbane, with youngster Paula Griffin again starting ahead of the more experienced Maria Tutaia at goal attack.

Australian coach Norma Plummer also started with the same seven, although captain Sharelle McMahon slotted back into her more accustomed role at goal attack, leaving Susan Pratley to take the goal shoot bib.

It was a combination that worked well for the Diamonds in the first quarter as the teams traded goal for goal in an intense 15min that saw the Australians finish strongly to lead 14-10 at the break.

While the Silver Ferns worked hard to force turnover ball, the transition through court still looked a little disjointed and mistakes came in the face of gritty Australian defence.

The battle between goal shoot Irene van Dyk and towering Diamonds goal keep Susan Fuhrmann -- won decisively by the Australian last week -- resumed again and honours were even until 5min out from halftime.

The New Zealand midcourt found some rhythm, van Dyk battled mightily for space and the Australians' four-goal lead evaporated to leave the scores tied at 19-19.

A well-timed injury break called by goal defence Julie Corletto seemed to settle the Australians, although Aitken used it as well to introduce Tutaia for Griffin.

A three-goal run gave the Australians their lead back and although the Silver Ferns regathered to hold their pass, the Diamonds went into the break at 25-22 ahead.

The strength of the New Zealand midcourt gave them 17 shots on goal in the second quarter to Australia's 12, although Pratley and McMahon missed only one of those while the Silver Fern shooters missed five.

Casey Williams moved back to her more favoured goal keep position for the third quarter, while Grant was replaced by the experienced Sheryl Scanlan at goal defence.

The change provided immediate impact, with Scanlan and wing defence Joline Henry disrupting Australia's supply of possession which was duly converted at the other end as the Silver Ferns scored the first five goals of the quarter.

The impetus provided by Scanlan and her strength on the ball helped see the scores tied again at 33-33 with just over 5min left in the spell before a five-goal run from the Diamonds left them looking ominous at the three-quarter break 39-34 ahead.

Grant returned to goal keep for the final 15min, as Scanlan was benched and Williams again moved out to goal defence.

The Diamonds' lead was nullified with yet another five-goal run by the Silver Ferns, which left the scores at 40-40 with less than 10min to go.

The two sides traded goal for goal until the final turnover with less than 1min on the clock.

The result means that Australia have won 12 of 18 outings against the Silver Ferns since New Zealand took gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The fifth and final test is in Auckland on Wednesday.

- NZPA