Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby is pleased with the strong start her side got off to in their 61-37 goal win over England this morning.
New Zealand's Jane Watson picked up the Player of the Match award. Photo: Photosport
The Silver Ferns came out of the blocks fast in their netball Quad series match in Liverpool.
A strong second quarter then set the platform for the victory and they went into the main break with a 12 goal advantage.
The Ferns looked much slicker than they did when the met the Australian Diamonds on the weekend.
A sluggish start against Australia cost them their Quad Series opener.
But Southby said they addressed some of the issues they had against Australia today.
"Generally I think we got off to a strong start in each quarter. Defensively we also wanted to work on creating more gains. That happened right throughout the game so I think a lot more confidence and I think the connections are starting to come back again."
Regular goal shooter Bailey Mes had to go off before half-time with an injury but Te Paea Selby-Rickit slotted in seamlessly to Southby's satisfaction.
"Te Paea's worked really hard. She has been playing most of her recent netball at Goal Attack so the fact that she can get back into Goal Shoot is a real bonus for us and the Ferns. And I think credit to her, she came on really strongly and she shot really well and was available and it was easy to read."
Mes has a sore back after landing heavily and Southby said it could be 24 hours before they know if she can play in the final Quad series match on Sunday morning.
Southby said Mes' shooting accuracy so far this year had been promising.
Mes finished with 96 percent against a feisty Sharni Layton in the game against Australia, and was sitting on 100 percent when she came off today.
"It's due to the hard work she's been doing both in practice and also that ability to mentally stay focussed and be able to put up shots under the pressure that they're put under out there.
"I think the connections with the rest of the attacking unit have taken a little while to grow and certainly that last six months of last year we saw glimpses of it but it wasn't consistent enough. But over the last couple of weeks since we've been together we've certainly seen a real growth in that."
Maria Tutaia took on a big load of the shooting at Goal Attack today and the Ferns' combined shooting accuracy was an impressive 91 percent.
Jane Watson picked up the Player of the Match award at GK.
The sizeable lead meant defender Kelly Jury was able to get her debut in the last six minutes of the match.
The Ferns meet South Africa on Sunday morning in their final game of the Quad Series.
