England suffer Ferns defeat

Atkinson: Turning point

Also see

• Netball Fixtures
• Forum
• Photos

England failed to capitalise on a late fight-back as they fell to a 65-59 defeat by New Zealand in extra-time.

Sue Hawkins' side took the lead for the first time in the last quarter of the match but a late battle with the Silver Ferns saw the scores level at the whistle.

New Zealand were the better side in extra-time and eventually walked away from the one-off Test at Bath University with the victory.

The game started scrappily with both sides giving the ball away and failing to convert passes in the first 15 minutes, though all four shooters recorded 100 per cent hit rates.

It was New Zealand who made the most of their accurate shooting, cruising to a seven-goal lead by the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Silver Ferns extend their lead to nine before a marked improvement in England's display closed the gap to four and Hawkins' side went into the break trailing 30-26.

England came out with renewed vigour in the third quarter but found themselves eight goals behind after just seven minutes, and a further blow came when Tamsin Greenway picked up an ankle problem and was unable to carry on.

Turning point

The void left by Greenway was filled by Karen Atkinson, which head coach Sue Hawkins felt was a turning point in the game.

"She did a tremendous job with the centre pass we were getting a bit clogged up on that - she opened it up," she said.

Going into the fourth quarter the gap was still four but the game turned with around nine minutes left on the clock when England fought back to level the scores before creeping three goals ahead of their rivals for a 49-46 lead

New Zealand fought back though, and alternate scoring from both sides saw the scores level at 51-51 when the full-time whistle was blown.

The Silver Ferns were the dominant side throughout extra-time and eventually emerged as 65-59 victors, and the England coach said her side had been taught some valuable lessons.

"We had an opportunity to step up and learn how to win and that's a lesson that we'll take away from this game - when you are in front by two, or up by one then you do take the next step," said Hawkins.

"I think that's what they'll be disappointed in, they didn't, in that fourth quarter take the win and mistakes snuck in at the last moment."

Q1: 12-19
Q2: 26-30
Q3: 38-42
Q4: 51-51
1st Extra time: 54-60
2nd Extra time: 59-65