NZ netball win in Glasgow marred by injury
Unable to find their fluency, New Zealand did enough to complete a comfortable 65-37 win over Wales in their penultimate pool match but a more worrying sign was injury concern surrounding young defender Catherine Hall at the netball tournament in Glasgow.
Introduced in the second quarter, Hall was taken from the court in a wheelchair five minutes into the final quarter. Leading into the tournament, the rising young defender had recovered from a lengthy foot injury to take her place in the New Zealand team for the Commonwealth Games.
The setback resulted in messy final quarter for New Zealand with Wales delivering a competitive second half, to lose the last 15 minutes by just two goals, in a spirited revival.
Heading towards the business end, New Zealand coach Dame Noeline Taurua employed a similar tactic to the previous match (against Uganda) with a number of changes throughout while opting to rest key shooter Grace Nweke for the entire match.
“There are some work-ons for us,” captain Karin Burger said after New Zealand’s mixed performance. “We’re definitely getting some ball and we’re using our speed really well and it looks good when we execute it but sometimes our speed can count against us. So, it’s just recognising those moments of when to slow it down and just work with the pace that we’ve got.
“In terms of Catherine, hopefully, it’s not too bad. When one goes down, the rest of us feel it really hard, so we’ll just focus on what we need to do as a team, how we can support her and hopefully, it’s not too bad news.”
Shooter Martina Salmon got her first start of the campaign while New Zealand opted for the slick midcourt of Kimiora Poi (wing attack), Maddy Gordon (centre) and Kate Heffernan (wing defence).
The New Zealanders quickly skipped out to an early lead but their general attacking play was not always accurate, breaking down on several occasions through poor passing or decision-making.
The long reach of goalkeeper Kelly Jackson, New Zealand’s most experienced player, lining up in her 87th test, proved a troublesome obstacle for the Welsh shooters while Salmon proved an accurate force under the hoop.
New Zealand had few problems reaching a 17-7 lead at the first break but untidy play and a lack of discipline didn’t help their cause.
Kate Heffernan and Gordon swapped positions on the resumption with Hall (goalkeeper) and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan (wing defence) being introduced off the bench.
The energetic Reuelu-Buchanan continued to impress from her new position with her hustle on defence and strong drive on attack while Georgia Heffernan provided a slick distribution of ball to Salmon before hobbling off with an ankle tweak halfway through the stanza.
She was replaced by Amelia Walmsley, the New Zealanders continuing to pile on the goals but still lacking the efficiency and accuracy to be completely satisfied. Enjoying a wealth of possession, New Zealand had 41 shots at goal to Wales 17 to lead 36-15 at the main break.
With Salmon and Walmsley operating the shooting circle and Carys Stythe and Hall, the in-circle defensive pairing, New Zealand had a youthful look at both ends during the third quarter which, again, reflected a stuttering outcome.
With Zoe Matthewman coming on at goal attack, Wales had their most productive quarter of the match through her confident finishing and team’s increased volume. New Zealand had their moments but didn’t have things all their way against a Welsh team with nothing to lose, a lack of accuracy being the major bugbear.
Still well in charge on the scoreboard with plenty to tidy up, New Zealand went into the last turn with a 51-25 lead.
In a quick turnaround, the New Zealand team have little time to recover, fronting up again in 19 hours for their final pool match against Trinidad & Tobago tomorrow (Friday, 1am NZT).