Diamonds out to end trans-Tasman hoodoo after Cup win

Joanna Guelas |

Sophie Garbin was outstanding for Australia in the 17-point win over New Zealand.
Sophie Garbin was outstanding for Australia in the 17-point win over New Zealand.

The Diamonds believe they are perfectly placed to end their Constellation Cup drought across the Tasman after steamrolling New Zealand with an emphatic 68-51 victory.

The Silver Ferns were desperate to clinch their first win of the four-match netball series after suffering an opening 69-52 defeat, but the defending Cup champions were outclassed on Wednesday.

Garbin
Garbin scored 33 goals from 39 attempts. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

A dominant Australian outfit led at every change and shot 21 goals to nine in the third quarter to all but kill the game in front of 9562 fans at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.

Sophie Garbin starred in attack with 33 goals from 39 attempts, whileDiamonds captain Liz Watson marked her record 95th game by leading the game with 39 feeds and 24 goal assists as wing attack.

Watson
Liz Watson (c) passed Kathryn-Harby Williams as the sixth-most capped Diamonds player. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

The midcourter passed Kathryn Harby-Williams as the outright sixth most capped Diamond in history.

Star centre Kate Moloney finished with 32 feeds and 13 goal assists.

The Diamonds are out to reclaim the trans-Tasman trophy after suffering a demoralising 3-1 series loss last year and head to Globox Arena in Hamilton for the third Test with much-needed confidence.

Australia have not won across the ditch since 2021, when they played all four Tests in Christchurch due to COVID restrictions.

The last time the Diamonds pulled off a clean sweep of the series was in 2017.

Asked about the pressure to win in New Zealand, captain Watson said: “It’s there.

“We haven’t won there in a long time, and that’s the fact. It’s hard to win in New Zealand. We know that.

“We’ve got to just take confidence with the way that we’re playing, the players that are getting out there.”

Marinkovich
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich didn’t make any changes for the second Test and was rewarded. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Interim Kiwi coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said she was “gutted” for the squad.

“There was some really brilliant moments and some good fight backs, and then it would just pull away again,” McCausland-Durie said.

“In the end, we were chasing rather than dictating and that’s a really tough space to be in.

After opening the series by winning with their highest-ever score against New Zealand in Melbourne, Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich took an unchanged team of 12 into Wednesday’s clash.

Heffernan
Sunday Aryang and Georgia Heffernan compete for possession in Wednesday’s clash. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Marinkovich’s faith paid off with the Australians bursting off the blocks to build a 19-13 lead after the first quarter.

Fans would have been forgiven if they thought they were seeing double in the second quarter after McCausland-Durie brought on substitute Georgia Heffernan for Martina Salmon.

Nweke
Grace Nweke posed an aerial threat for New Zealand. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Goal attack Heffernan, in aiming to free up star goalshooter Grace Nweke, joined her identical twin and wing defence Kate on court.

The Heffernan sisters lit up the midcourt as Nweke flaunted her prowess in the air to keep the Silver Ferns in the game, cutting the deficit to two goals.

But Marinkovich injected Georgie Horjus after half-time, and the goal attack had an immediate impact.

Horjus
Georgie Horjus came on at half-time and played a dominant part. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

The Diamonds surged to a 51-37 lead as the Silver Ferns struggled to keep up with the home side’s pace, giving up nine intercepts in the third quarter.

New Zealand tried to rally in the final term, but the damage was already done.

AAP