The Vitality Roses brought the score back level after trailing at half time, but some clinical and quick attacking from the Silver Ferns saw them come out on top.
Quarter one:
Returning to the court after a planned rest on Sunday, Eleanor Cardwell started for the Vitality Roses, and opened the scoring. Moments later, England capitalised on a turnover on the New Zealand centre pass, allowing Cardwell to sink the second shot of the game. The Silver Ferns struggled to find their feet in the opening minutes of the game and were struck with the lightning-quick defensive work from Funmi Fadoju and Geva Mentor. The Vitality Roses quickly took the ball to their circle edge with feeds from captain Natalie Metcalf and Imogen Allison.
As the end of the first quarter came to a close, the Silver Ferns discovered their speed as Jane Watson went hunting for the ball. The Vitality Roses lost the lead as New Zealand went on a four-goal run. Grace Nweke stood solid under the post as feeds from Gina Crampton sailed over the heads of Mentor and Fadoju. The Silver Ferns went into quarter time with a three-goal lead.
Quarter two:
Head Coach, Jess Thirlby makes one change at the break bringing Chelsea Pitman on for Metcalf. New Zealand started off the quarter, taking their centre pass straight down to goal. The Vitality Roses fought back with their centre pass being taken straight to Cardwell, only for her to be knocked off her feet by Watson. The ball was won by New Zealand and fired down to their shooting circle, missing the arms of Guscoth and Fadjou. The speed of the Silver Ferns,’ bringing the ball to their attacking end made it difficult for Allison and Pitman to establish any rhythm.
Cardwell and Housby picked up on their scoring opportunities, making the most of getting the ball into the circle. With Cardwell shooting at 93% and Helen Housby securing eight out of eight, there was cause for celebration with Housby scoring her 1,000th goal for the Vitality Roses with just over three minutes left to go in the quarter. The Silver Ferns extended their lead and went into half time, ahead by six.
Quarter three:
Into the championship quarter as it is known, and the Vitality Roses put their foot on the pedal. With Metcalf back on at wing attack and Allison moved to wing defence, England came back from the half time break ready to fight. With New Zealand getting an offensive contact call, the Vitality Roses took the opportunity to score off the Silver Ferns’ centre pass. With Cardwell being left alone in the circle, Jade Clarke found the right pass to feed beautifully into her. England had now scored a run of goals which closed the gap between the two sides.
A held ball for New Zealand’s Grace Nweke gave England another chance to make the gap even shorter. Housby and Cardwell found each other with shooter-to-shooter balls, helping one other against the tight defence of Watson and Karaka. A warning for Mentor meant that the England defence really had to tidy up their play whilst Metcalf found Cardwell alone yet again in the circle, pulling the score back to within one. The seconds were counting down, but New Zealand secured one more goal right before the end of the quarter to re-establish a two-goal lead.
Quarter four:
The final quarter saw tales of interceptions, through court speed and numerous goals for both sides. Within the first two minutes, the Vitality Roses managed to draw the score back to 40 goals each. The Silver Ferns came back back as Heffernan helped to capitalise on a couple of unforced errors before Nweke and Ekenasio converted those turnovers into goals.
With Mentor on a warning, Jess Thirlby was quick to change the defensive end, with Guscoth coming in at goal defence and Fadoju moving to goalkeeper. However, this did not faze the Silver Ferns as long balls in from Gina Crampton to Nweke found them increase their lead yet again.
Guscoth and Allison fought for every ball but further unforced errors seemed to hinder the Vitality Roses from taking the ball to their shooting circle. New Zealand took advantage at every chance they could to extend their lead. Unfortunately, the tenacity of the Vitality Roses wasn’t enough, and the Silver Ferns took the win, 45-55.
Vitality Roses starting seven: Geva Mentor (GK), Funmi Fadoju (GD), Layla Guscoth (WD), Imogen Allison (C), Natalie Metcalf (WA), Helen Housby (GA), Eleanor Cardwell (GS)
Substitutes: Alice Harvey, Chelsea Pitman, Jade Clarke, Olivia Tchine, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis
New Zealand Silver Ferns starting seven: Jane Watson (GK), Phoenix Karaka (GD), Karin Burger (WD), Kate Heffernan (C), Gina Crampton (WA), Te Paea Selby-Rickit (GA), Grace Nweke (GS)
Substitutes: Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Claire Kersten, Kelly Jury, Maia Wilson, Peta Toeava
All of the games from the Netball Quad Series are being shown live on Sky Sports. The Vitality Roses return to action on Wednesday 25 January when they take on South Africa for the bronze medal position, while New Zealand will face Australia in the final. Tune in on Sky Sports Main Event, Arena and YouTube from 13:30.
