The Origin Australian Diamonds have been crowned Constellation Cup champions after defeating the New Zealand Silver Ferns 57-53 in the must-win final clash of the series.
The Ferns jumped early at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday, taking a five-goal advantage just minutes into the game making the most of the Diamonds’ turnovers.
The visitors initially looked faultless, capitalising off quick transition down court through the likes of Maddy Gordon and Whitney Souness, not allowing the Diamonds’ defence time to set up behind the ball.
But you can never count the Diamonds out.
After trailing by six goals they managed to reduce the margin to three at the first break after relentless defence down court.
Steph Wood also had an impressive opening quarter, shooting seven goals at 100 per cent. Sophie Garbin, in the goal shooter bib, did well to create space for Wood’s sharp drives to the circle.
The Aussies trailed 13-16 at the first break before both sides went goal-for-goal for the first five minutes of the second quarter.
Sophie Garbin stood tall under the post.New Zealand’s Kate Heffernan, with a number of deflections and an intercept to her name, was busy early, causing a problem for the Diamonds' attacking end.
The Kiwis stretched the margin early and managed to get out to a seven-goal lead off the back of relentless pressure, forcing the Diamonds into uncharacteristic errors.
Grace Nweke once again stood tall under the post slotting 23 goals by half-time. She was helped by Ameliaranne Ekenasio with seven goals to her name and 11 feeds at the major break.
While Silver Ferns goal keeper Kelly Jury really came into the game, taking a crucial rebound and putting a lot of pressure on under the post.
A late change from the Diamonds saw Amy Parmenter injected onto the court in wing defence while Jamie-Lee Price moved to centre and Kate Moloney took a seat with just minutes to play to the half.
The Kiwis stretched the margin again to five after a late charge from the Australians to take a 30-25 goal lead into half-time.
The Diamonds turned the tables in the third quarter though, racing to a six-goal advantage after an 11-2 start to the term.
The injection of Parmenter was noticeable with the Diamonds' wing defence adding speed to the defensive end.
Diamonds captain Liz Watson was a standout with her pin-point feeds to Garbin on full display. She managed to find the tall shooter under the post on a number of occasions when it looked like there was no space in the circle.
The New Zealand team was forced to make three changes across the court including bringing Kayla Johnson into wing defence and Elle Temu into goal defence. Kimiora Poi also donned the wing attack bib.
The sell-out crowd on the Gold Coast was electric.The home side set themselves up to come home strong in the last term, carrying a six-goal lead (44-38) at the final change.
The Diamonds didn’t miss a beat early in the fourth, carrying that momentum into the final term.
They increased the margin to eight until the Ferns managed a break to reduce it back to six.
It was hard to shy away from the physicality of the game which had clearly gone up a notch with just 10 minutes to play.
New Zealand got on a run, bringing the margin back to just four goals with seven minutes left on the clock.
A crucial intercept from Watson helped break the Ferns' momentum late but a turnover in the Diamonds’ shooting circle gave the visitors a chance.
The teams traded goals, allowing the Diamonds to hold a four goal buffer.
A goal from Garbin sealed the victory in front of a sell-out crowd, with the Diamonds claiming the Constellation Cup for 2022 – and returning the trophy to Aussie soil.
It was an impressive turnaround for the Diamonds who were on the backfoot after losing the two opening matches in New Zealand.
But the 15-goal win a few days earlier at John Cain Arena meant the Diamonds just had to win by any margin on the Gold Coast to secure the series trophy.
The victory marks the Diamonds' 100th win over the Silver Ferns.
The Aussies will now turn their focus to the three-match England Series which begins in Newcastle on Wednesday.
