The Australian women’s Fast5 Netball World Series team have made history, winning the country’s first Fast5 trophy after defeating South Africa in the grand final by 14 goals.
After an exciting weekend of play between the world’s best teams the Aussies proved they were the best of the best, here’s how the weekend played out.
Match one – Australia vs Jamaica
Australia came out firing against Jamaica in their first match of the series. Lucy Austin slotted the first goal for the Australians while down the other end of the court Matilda McDonell was strong up against Romelda Aiken George.
Kelsey Browne and Hannah Mundy were great in the midcourt with their defensive efforts slowing Jamaica.
Tara Hinchliffe read the play well earning two gains during the quarter to give the Australians a 21 to 9 lead at half time.
The second half of the match continued to be in favour of the Australian team with the side coming away with a 24-goal win.
Kim Jenner was named player of the match with her work in defence resulting in seven gains and four intercepts.
Australia defeated Jamaica 39 to 15.Match two – Australia vs South Africa
The Australian team hit the scoreboard early against South Africa with two goals from Sophie Garbin.
Jenner was strong in defence following in her opponent’s goal attempts to snatch the rebounds.
Garbin’s cut and drive was fast against South Africa’s defenders and this enabled the Australians to lead by three at the first break.
Mundy and Browne were speedy across the court with their swaps in and out of the centre bib seamless.
Lucy Austin and Georgie Horjus’ pairing in the goal circle worked well with their experience from the Adelaide Thunderbirds showing.
At half time the Australians were in front by four goals.
Mundy was impressive in centre tallying up a total of eight feeds for the match.South Africa had the opportunities to score throughout the third quarter, however, the defensive pressure across the court from the Australians prevented them from making the most of their chances.
Australia went into the final quarter ahead by seven goals.
Browne’s speed across the court opened up space for her teammates with Lucy Austin keeping the scoreboard ticking over before Garbin and Sophie Dwyer replaced her and Horjus in the goal circle to finish the match.
Tara Hinchliffe, McDonnell and Jenner were instrumental in defence to turn ball over in the final few minutes.
South Africa began to come back in the final quarter, using the most of the power play to slot goals worth double the points.
It was a thrilling finish with South Africa a chance to draw the match on the siren, however, the shot that would have been worth six goals missed and Australia took the victory.
Tara Hinchliffe was the player of the match finishing with four gains and two intercepts for the team.
Match three – Australia vs New Zealand
New Zealand were first to hit the scoreboard, however, it was the Australians who led at the end of the first quarter.
The connection between Kelsey Browne and Sophie Garbin was on song with the duo finding each other with ease.
Hinchliffe and Jenner's hands over pressure created turnover opportunities and as a result Australia led by two at the first break.
Australia had hands over the ball to consistently challenge New Zealand.Garbin was accurate throughout the second quarter shooting at 100 per cent as she had in the opening term.
At half time Australia led by eight and they pushed that lead out further in the third term to be up by 13 at three quarter time.
New Zealand ignited in the final quarter, nailing super shots to work their way back into the match and even the scores at the beginning of the last power play.
The ball seesawed from end to end, however, it was Australia who held a two-goal lead when the final whistle blew.
Match four – Australia vs Uganda
Uganda ended Australia’s winning streak with a two-goal win on day two of competition.
Australia started well to hold Uganda off scoring their first goal for the opening four minutes of the match.
Kim Jenner was everywhere defensively covering options and pulling in rebounds while Browne went full throttle in the midcourt to work the ball from one end to the next.
Australia were in front six to two at the first break.
Uganda held their own throughout the second quarter and started their comeback.
Sophie Dwyer opened up the space in the goal circle for Garbin to slot seven from seven, however, down the other end of the court Uganda were also accurate with only one goal missed allowing them to reign the margin in to just two goals.
Sophie Dwyer worked hard to open the goal circle.
A strong third quarter from Uganda resulted in them finally taking the lead in the final minute of the quarter.
During the quarter, Georgie Horjus was quick in attack to provide options for Sophie Garbin.
The final quarter was intense with Australia playing a tight defence on their opponents to force opportunities.
In attack both Dwyer, Horjus and Garbin worked well in the goal circle to keep Australia from falling too far behind.
Scores were level with 50 seconds remaining, however, Uganda made the most of the power play to win by two.
Match five – Australia vs England
With a spot in the grand final on the line, Australia had a strong first quarter, however, England slotted a goal worth four to lead at the first break.
Australia lifted in intensity during the second converting through Garbin and Dwyer to make the most of Hinchliffe and Jenner’s work in defence.
Rotating defence kept England on their toes.
Anstiss thread the needle between attack and defence well.
England missed a few passes to each other and as a result Australia overtook them on the scoreboard to lead by three at half time.
Australia were ferocious in defence during the third quarter with McDonnell and Hinchliffe fighting for rebounds.
While in attack Browne was tactical with where she fed the ball to limit England’s opportunity to steal possession.
Only four goals up at the start of the fourth quarter, Australia kept pushing to keep England at bay.
Hinchliffe and Jenner hunted the ball down while Mundy and Browne kept the momentum across the court.
Sophie Garbin carried the shooting load in the final quarter and kept Australia in front, finishing the match with 86 per cent accuracy.
Australia held on to win 34 to 28.
Only losing one match, Australia made it through to the grand final.Grand Final – Australia vs South Africa
Australia made history in the final match of the tournament.
A slow start from Australia gave South Africa a one-goal lead at the first break, however, from that point onwards it was all the way of the Aussies.
Sophie Garbin provided a stable option in attack while defensively Hinchliffe, McDonnell and Jenner forced errors out of South Africa.
Australia hit the front to lead by one at half time.
Scores were still close in the third quarter with Anstiss, Browne and Mundy all taking turns in the centre bib to keep the Australians moving. While Garbin and Dwyer shot at 100 per cent.
Going into the final break up 24-20 Australia asserted their dominance in the last quarter.
Australia went in to the last quarter ahead by four goals.
Jenner and Hinchliffe shone bright in defence combining for five gains and one intercept to starve South Africa of scoring opportunities.
In attack it was a perfect scoring quarter for all three shooters who took the court with Horjus, Garbin and Dwyer putting on a show.
The pressure on South Africa from Australia’s defensive and scoring ends kept the side goal-less in the final term with Australia extending their lead by 10 goals to win the final 34 to 20.
The win is the first time Australia has ever won a Fast5 Netball World Series.
Also history making history, the Australian men’s team participated in the event for the first time and finished with a silver medal.
