Whilst the Constellation Cup is in the hands of the Silver Ferns, Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich says victory in the fourth and final game was “huge” for her team.
The world champions roared back from three heavy losses to overcome New Zealand 63-50 in Melbourne on Wednesday night, preventing a historic clean sweep.
Coincidentally it was the same margin they won their first Test of the year, also against New Zealand, in the Nations Cup in January.
Marinkovich said it was important to finish the year on a high.
“It was huge – what we said was that this was a moment to set where we wanted the direction to go, and I think that’s really important,” the mentor said.
“I just thought the tenacity of the girls, we chased down the loose balls, we were first to it, which we’d been lacking, and I just think we just relaxed and just played and you could tell that they were enjoying it.
“There were some smiles, there were some high fives, and we celebrated the moment in the moment as opposed to just worrying about what was next all the time.”
Kate Moloney started at centre for the first time in the series with Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin in the goal circle and the Melbourne Vixens trio fired up in front of a sold-out home crowd at John Cain Arena.
Garbin was flawless, scoring at 100 per cent, with 36 goals – the first time she’s achieved the unblemished record in a Diamonds game while Austin was player of the match, tipping in 27 goals in her high-energy performance.
With New Zealand leaving star shooter Grace Nweke on the bench, the teams were locked at 15-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Nweke was brought into the match for the second quarter but the Diamonds had their best period of the series and stormed to a six-goal lead – 32-26 at halftime.
Goalkeeper Courtney Bruce answered her critics by keeping Nweke quiet in the quarter while athletic goal defender Sunday Aryang kept the pressure on the Kiwis, with Marinkovich saying it was her best ever Test.
The Diamonds were able to push the lead out to a commanding 11 goals heading into the final term, finally living up to their world No.1 billing.
New Zealand, who won the previous three matches by double-figure margins, gave the Australians something to think about with midcourt ace Maddy Gordon’s return from the bench making an impact.
They got to within six goals but the Diamonds again kicked away to secure a much-needed win.
Ferns coach Noeline Taurua was happy to use her entire bench and the contribution of Amelia Walmsley, with Nweke unavailable for international duty while she plays in the Australian Super Netball competition.
Kiwi skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio said while they didn’t get the clean sweep, her team was thrilled with the series showing.
“We probably didn’t express ourselves in the way we wanted to finish off this last game so that’s a bittersweet moment,” the goal attack said.
“But I think we have to give credit to the Aussie team as well.
“We knew that their backs were against the wall pretty much and that’s kind of what we expected them to come out like.
“We know that we have to be on our absolute A game when we play against Australia and I’ve been really, really proud in how we’ve taken the game to them.”
