Diamonds stave off series sweep in win over New Zealand

Australia’s desperate Diamonds saved themselves from a brutal Constellation Cup series whitewash, rebounding to claim a 63-50 victory over New Zealand in the final Test.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 30: Sophie Garbin of Australia of Australia looks to shoot the ball during game four of the Constellation Cup match between Australia Diamonds and New Zealand Silver Ferns at John Cain Arena on October 30, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Australia’s desperate Diamonds saved themselves from a brutal Constellation Cup series whitewash, rebounding to claim a 63-50 victory over New Zealand in the final Test in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

Led by a flawless shooting display from goalshooter Sophie Garbin (36 goals at 100 per cent), the Diamonds fought back from Sunday’s disastrous 18-goal loss in Perth that secured the Silver Ferns the series with an unassailable 3-0 series lead.

The Aussies clearly had the fire in the belly from the opening quarter and started strongly buoyed by a vocal home crowd in a packed-out John Cain Arena.

It helped that the Silver Ferns had also started the match with their star shooter Grace Nweke on the bench while the Diamonds shifted Kate Moloney to starting centre for the first time in the series.

Diamonds goal attack Kiera Austin receives a pass. Picture: Getty Images

It was goal for goal early until the Silver Ferns wrestled a four-goal lead thanks to powerful defensive work.

A spectacular intercept from Diamonds veteran goalkeeper Courtney Bruce saw Australia narrow the lead to two, and then a loose ball intercept by Moloney evened the scores.

The Diamonds were one goal up with seconds to go, but a final hail Mary from the visitors levelled the scores 15-all at the first break.

The Silver Ferns brought Nweke into the action in the second term, but for the first time this series the Australians fired on all cylinders with a stunning Sunday Aryang intercept in the goal circle helping the Diamonds take a six-goal advantage into the half-time break and a 32-26 lead.

Garbin and goal attack Kiera Austin helped Australia extend the lead to nine early in the second half, the pair showing the type of form that typified the Diamonds series win over England last month and fitting of their world No. 1 ranking.

“We were so disappointed in the three games we had prior,” Austin said.

“We needed to get back to get back to what we know best, enjoying the netball that we play.

“That’s the brand of netball that we play and it’s probably the first time we’ve seen it in that series.”

The matchup between Nweke and Bruce developed into the highlight of the day, the pair becoming visibly heated in the goal circle as Australia managed to find a way to contain the towering Kiwi superstar.

Diamonds star Sophie Garbin looks to shoot the ball during game four of the Constellation Cup. Picture: Getty Images

The Silver Ferns were getting picked off at the centre pass and as silly mistakes crept into their game the Diamonds finally started to get the rub of the green from officials this series as the Kiwi defence started attracting multiple contact calls.

Australia carried an 11-goal margin into the final term, the 48-37 lead the first time the Diamonds had the ascendancy this late in a game during the entire series.

The Silver Ferns made some key changes at the break, benching Claire O’Brien after two costly turnovers in the third term, but it was not enough to swing the momentum completely.

New Zealand managed to claw back the margin to seven but messy defence and a costly held ball from the Silver Ferns, an issue that had raised the ire of Aussie fans all series who believed they’d been afforded far too long in possession at times, helped extend the Diamonds lead to 10 goals with three minutes remaining.

A final intercept from star defender Aryang saw the Diamonds net an extra couple of goals late for a 13-point victory.

It was a strong end to a disappointing series for Australia and the first significant series or tournament defeat in the reign of Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich.

“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” Marinkovich said post-game.

“We don’t have an international game for quite some time now, we’ve got a camp in January so we wanted to make sure that we take learnings, but understand what our performance really looked like.

“The tenacity of the girls, we chased down the loose balls, we were first to it which we had been lacking... we just relaxed and just played and you could tell that they were enjoying it.”

Originally published as Diamonds stave off series sweep in win over New Zealand