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DAVID UNWIN / STUFF / Things
Grace Nweke made an instant impact when she came in early in the second quarter for the Silver Ferns on Friday.
The Silver Ferns are set for a rematch with the New Zealand men in the final of the Cadbury Netball Series on Saturday.
On Friday night they edged the New Zealand under-21 team 81-33, and are now ready for a replay of the match that beat them 60-47 on Thursday.
The men continued their winning streak earlier on Friday at Fly Palmy Arena in Palmerston North, when they beat New Zealand A 64-37.
However, one U-21 player had a reason to smile: teenage shooter Grace Nweke, who is part of the Silver Ferns squad for this series, and had her first experience with the black dress.
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He entered the game at the start of the second quarter and when the whistle blew at halftime, he had scored 16 goals in 17 attempts, as many as his teammates playing for the opposition had scored in double the time.
The Silver Ferns won the second quarter 25-6, turning a 20-10 lead at the end of the first period into a 45-16 lead at the big jump.
They were a little less emphatic after that, winning the third quarter 17-7 and the quarter 19-10.
This week was always going to be an apprenticeship for the under 21s, who will be able to summon Nweke, and New Zealand players A Maddy Gordon and Tayla Earle, to the Netball Youth World Cup in Fiji late next year. .
They will end with a rematch against Team A, who won their first match narrowly, 57-53.
Ferns’ seasoned shooters Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Te Paea Selby-Rickit were exempted from Friday’s game due to load management, which gave youngsters Nweke (28/33) and Monica Falkner (25/29) and Maia Wilson (27/31) a chance to show off his stuff.
All 12 players took to the court for the Ferns, with Karin Burger the only one who played the full game, and Falkner and Wilson, who made a rare appearance on the goal attack number, the only others to play more than 30 minutes.
The Ferns’ rematch with the men is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, with the New Zealand A-New Zealand U-21 rematch taking place at 6 p.m.
Silver ferns 81 (Maia Wilson 28/33, Monica Falkner 25/28, Grace Nweke 28/33) New Zealand U21 33 (Khiarana Williams 8/11, Hannah Glen 14/17, Savior Tui 11/13).
Q1: 20-10; P2: 45-16; Q3: 62-23
