Australian U/21s Achieve Success in Fiji
The Australian U/21 netball squad has come away with a win after competing in the Digicel Punjas International Youth Series in Fiji.
Western Australian athletes Jessica Anstiss, Sophie Garbin and Annika Lee-Jones were all selected in the squad late last year in preparation for the tournament against New Zealand, Samoa and Fiji.
The series played an important role in the squad’s preparations for the World Youth Cup in July, where the remaining three teams will also be competing.
Before heading to Suva, Fiji the squad met in Sydney to gain match practice ahead of the competition.
They took on the NSW Swifts and new Suncorp Super Netball franchise, GIANTS Netball in order to reconnect and work on strategies.
In Suva their first match was played against the home side, Fiji, where they came away with a 69 to 33 victory.
After winning the first three quarters the Fijian crowd appeared to be a distraction for the Australians in the fourth, resulting in the opposition winning the quarter by two goals.
Day two of the Series saw the U/21 squad take on Trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand.
As is commonly the case with many of the matches between these two countries the battle was closely fought with many ebbs and flows.
Whilst the scores were close for the first half, Australia began to pull away in the second eventuating in a 16 goal lead over their opponents.
The final game of the round was played against Samoa.
Squad member Annika Lee-Jones said “with the formation of a new game plan we were excited to take this to the court and see what effect it would have on our end result.”
This game plan was proven to be a success as reflected on the scoreboard, Australia winning 81 to 18.
After remaining undefeated throughout the round the pressure was on for Australia in the final to maintain their run.
With intense pressure applied from the first whistle to the last it was evident that the New Zealanders could not keep up with Australia in the final, going down by nine goals at the game’s conclusion.
The Australian U/21 squad has now returned to Australia where the players will return to training with their respective Suncorp Super Netball franchises and Australian Netball League teams ahead of the season.
With the seasons scheduled to commence in mid-February all U/21 eligible athletes will be looking to perform in order to be named in the final team to travel to Botswana in July for the World Youth Cup.
Australian U/21 Results:
Australia v Fiji 69 to 33
Australia v New Zealand 56 to 40
Australia v Samoa 81 to 18
Australia v New Zealand 52 to 43