A young Diamonds line-up burst out of the blocks in front of the 8,000 strong crowd but their arch-rivals New Zealand nailed the victory with superior goal percentage, despite Australia having five more attempts.
Australia looked impressive early, with Kate Beveridge (GS) and Susan Pratley (GA) standing tall in the goal circle whilst wing defence, Julie Prendergast was controlling the midcourt with centre Natalie von Bertouch, to open up a commanding eight goal first quarter lead, 15-7.
Silver Ferns coach, Ruth Aitken swung the changes, bringing on tall defender Katrina Grant for Sheryl Scanlan at goal defence and zippy Liana Barrett-Chase for her international debut, replacing Maree Bowden at wing attack.
The revitalised Silver Ferns line-up staged a stunning comeback in the second quarter through tight, relentless defence and high-accuracy shooting by Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia to be within one goal, 21-20 at the main break. The Ferns had outscored the Diamonds 13 to 6 in the quarter to gain the ascendency.
Williams and Grant shut down the feed into Pratley and Australian coach, Norma Plummer brought on Natalie Medhurst at goal attack, in an attempt to break the dominance of the Ferns defence.
Medhurst answered the challenge with a flawless 8 from 8 in the quarter but goal shooter, Kate Beveridge was feeling the pressure, scoring only 2 from 6.
The Ferns once again outscored the Diamonds 13 to 6 to gain the ascendency by three quarter time, 33 to 31.
With victory up for grabs, both teams lifted the intensity with courageous attempts at intercepts and physical clashes evident across the court. The Diamonds clawed to within three goals midway through the term but couldn’t close it out.
The Ferns outscored the Diamonds for the third successive quarter to clinch a morale-boosting five goal win and take the opening honours in the first duel of the two Test series.
Australian coach, Norma Plummer said the Ferns second quarter fightback was a match-winning move.
“That hurt us, the second quarter,” she said. "We were in chase mode after such a good lead, we really just needed to take the shot. Don`t ask me why we didn`t, I don`t know."
Acting court captain, Mo’onia Gerrard reinforced how important it is to protect a lead against a world-class opposition.
“We were up by eight and you can’t afford to let a lead like that go, particularly against the Silver Ferns,” she said.
"Every time they get an edge on us, of course they lap it up and we would too, but you just don`t want to lose against the Silver Ferns."
The Diamonds clash with the Silver Ferns in the second Holden Netball Test at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday November 2 from 2.10pm.
