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Silver Ferns 55 NZ Men 52
Silver Ferns 55 (Wilson 27/30, Ekenasio 21/25, Selby-Rickit 7/14) NZ Men 52 (Levi 36/39, Jefferies 8/10, Powell 8/10)
Fulltime - Silver Ferns 55 NZ Men 52: Ferns score five straight goals, and have a two-goal lead and the ball in the final minute. They only need to play out the clock, but Ekenasio puts the seal on a famous win.
14th minute: Ekenasio finds Wilson along the baseline for a two-goal lead, then again in the post for three. Levi misses at the other end and the Ferns have four straight goals.
12th minute: Levi scores two to level the scores again. A misunderstanding between Souness and Saunders in midcourt almost turns the ball over, but eventually Ekenasio puts the Ferns ahead again.
10th minute: Jeffries misses, but Levi grabs a rebound that looked suspiciously like a replay - without leaving the ground. Men are now just two goals down, but Wilson has now missed three in a row.
Winders is back on court for Kersten.
Eighth minute: Finally Wilson misses one, after 24 straight goals, and the men close to within four.
Apisai blocks Wilson's shot for her second miss of the night.
Sixth minute: Maybe the men are starting to suffer from conditioning, as they slip further behind, with three straight goals from Ekenasio and Wilson, who is still perfect (24/24).
Fourth minute: Ferns start the final quarter with a 4-1 burst that extends the margin back out to five goals.
Second minute: Still just three changes for the Ferns, with Wilson, Souness and Kersten emerging off the bench.
Jeffries is back at goal attack for the men, with Powell moving to wing attack, Grimmer at centre and Patu at wing defence.
Third quarter - Silver Ferns 42 NZ Men 39: Ferns attack showing good patience and enticing the men into overcommitting in defence.
Incredible shooting display from Maia Wilson, who replaced Te Paea Selby-Rickit in the second quarter and has converted 19/19 since.
The men continue to incur the wrath of the umpires - they've been penalised 44-26 compared to their opponents.
Honours shared in that third quarter, 17-17.
14th minute: Tainui throws the ball out of bounds and Wilson extends the lead to two, then another turnover allows her to slot her third in a row.
Wilson hits her 17th shot without miss - she's a machine tonight.
12th minute: Souness is called for hold at the attack end, so this gives the men a chance to tie it up - Levi brings them within one, with centre pass to come.
Levi leaps high to almost dunk the ball to level the scores, but Wilson puts the Ferns ahead again.
10th minute: Wilson is now 12/12 to keep her team ahead, but the men have regrouped and are poised to pounce.
Eighth minute: Acrobatic three-quarter-court pass from Patu to Levi for a goal assist and Powell scores a third consecutive, as the margin narrows to two.
Sixth minute: Ferns hanging on here, with Wilson continuing her perfect shooting. Powell shoots an air ball for the men and Ekenasio capitalise at the other end.
Fourth minute: Wilson slots a goal to stretch the lead back out to three.
First minute: Taurua makes a change - Kirsten on at wing defence. For the men, Powell moves into goal attack and Tangira to wing attack.
Halftime
The NZ Men won that period 12-9 and the match has become a real chess match, with first one coach, then the other ringing changes.
Maia Wilson is 6/6 on goal, with Ekenasio (12/14) missing just those two early in the second quarter. Levi and Jeffries have missed one apiece, but have still attempted 10 less shots than their rivals.
Second quarter - Silver Ferns 25 NZ Men 22: Watson shows too much quickness for Levi in the circle to intercept the ball and put her team back on attack.
Wilson slots one to extend the lead back to three goals at halftime, but the Ferns can't find their way back into the circle for one last shot in the dying seconds.
14th minute: Winders has made was for Souness at wing attack for the Ferns. Goal for goal again, with Wilson finding her groove early.
12th minute: Ferns have scored three straight and a fourth is disallowed, when Ekenasio is called for contact. Schuster re-enters the game at goal defence for the men, with Apisai slipping back to goal keep.
10th minute: Wilson has come on for Selby-Rickit, who shot just 50 percent (7/14) during the opening two quarters. Wilson slots two, as the margin edges out to four again.
Eighth minute: Selby-Rickit misses from point blank range and then pushes off the post for the rebound. At the other end, Levi sinks another to close the gap to two goals.
Sixth minute: Ekenasio has now missed twice this quarter and her team are struggling to find a way into the shooting circle. Finally Selby-Rickit scores to break the drought.
Fourth minute: Gerber enters the game at goal keep for the men, moving Apisai to goal defence - more height.
Second minute: Men's defence keep the Ferns attack out and have a change to nibble away at the lead now.
First minute: The men have rung the changes, bringing Patu into centre, Willis to wing defence and Apisai at goal keep. No changes for the Ferns.
First quarter - Silver Ferns 16 NZ Men 10: Ekenasio slots a seventh straight goal, before the men finally respond through Jeffries.
The women have taken control of this contest, with the captain a perfect 10/10 through the opening stanza. Levi and Jeffries are also perfect on goal, but turnovers have limited them to just 10 attempts, less than half their counterparts.
14th minute: Ferns have the men flustered, but can't capitalise on the opportunities they're creating. Eventually Ekenasio slots their sixth straight goal.
13th minute: Powell leaves the game, replaced by Grimmer at wing attack. Ferns now riding a five-goal run.
12th minute: Three straight goals to the Ferns put them ahead and then Levi is guilty of a shove in the back at the other end. Ekenasio extends the margin to three.
10th minute: Three straight goals for the men, as they retake the lead - a lot of holding by the Ferns defenders in the circle.
Eighth minute: NZ Men commit the first turnover and Ferns capitalise to open a two-goal advantage.
Sixth minute: No turnovers yet, but Selby-Rickit is struggling to find her target under goal - still goal for goal.
Fourth minute: Still goal for goal, although the men have not missed a shot yet.
Second minute: Selby-Rickit misses, but Ekenasio beats the men for the defensive rebound and converts the putback.
First minute: Men will have the first centre pass and first opportunity to seize momentum in this contest. Levi is too big under goal and opens the scoring.
Line-ups
Silver Ferns: GS-Selby-Rickit, GA-Ekensaio, WA-Crampton, C-Saunders, WD-Winders, GD-Watson, GK-Fitzpatrick
NZ Men: GS-Levi, GA-Jeffries, WA-Powell, C-Tangira, WD-Tainui, GD-Schuster, GK-Tukaki
Pre-game: After this match, coach Dame Noline Taurua must trim her squad to 12 players for the England series - Nweke, Poi and Burger slipped out of the squad for this final, so perhaps that's an indication of her thinking.
Pre-game: NZ A have accounted for NZ U21 68-47 in the series third-place playoff.
Defender Kate Heffernan is named Player of the Match, with Grace Nweke shooting 46/53 (87 percent) on goal.
NZ A won every quarter, but lead only 17-15 after the opening period. They will now travel to Hamilton, where they will provide England some training oppositions, before the start of the international series on Wednesday.
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Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the domestic quad series final between the Silver Ferns and NZ Men from Palmerston North.
The series has provided the NZ women with a nice tune-up for next week's three-test encounter with England Roses and tonight's return match with their male counterparts should put an exclamation mark on that preparation.
Over the past week, the Ferns have accounted for NZ A 59-44 and NZ U21 81-33, while falling 60-47 to the men in between.
During their three meetings over the past two years, that defeat was actually their worst against the men, after losing 66-54 and 54-50 in 2019 - before capturing the Netball World Cup title.
This squad is less experienced than that group, with coach Dame Noeline Taurua experimenting with her line-up, introducing teenager shooter Grace Nweke, and recalling Monica Falkner, Claire Kirsten, Sam Winders, Sulu Fitzpatrick and Kelly Jury from the wilderness.
For all her talent, Nweke has shown the lowest accuracy of the five Ferns shooters, connecting on 66/85 (77 percent), compared to their most on-point, Maia Wilson with 60/72 (83 percent). She has been relegated to the NZ A squad tonight, along with defender Karin Burger and midcourt Kimiora Poi.
Meanwhile, the NZ Men have easily accounted for NZ U21 73-44 and NZ A 64-37, with 2.15m shooter Junior Levi proving a massive obstacle to defenders, converting 101/111 (91 percent).
Silver Ferns: Gina Crampton, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Monica Falkner, Sulu Fitzpatrick, Kelly Jury, Claire Kersten, Shannon Saunders, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Whitney Souness, Jane Watson, Maia Wilson and Sam Winders.
NZ Men: Timothy Apisai, Quentin Gerber, Nick Grimmer, Daniel Jeffries, Junior Levi, Deepak Patu, Cameron Powell, Jake Schuster, Eddie Solia, Kruze Tangira, Joseph Tukaki, Sheridan Wills
TAB: NZ Men $1.25, Silver Ferns $3.50
More to come
