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2024 Constellation Cup Game 1: Silver Ferns too good to begin the four-game series by 14 goals over the Aussie Diamonds in Wellington

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, the Silver Ferns are on a roll to kickstart the 2024 Constellation Cup Series with a win on home soil at TSB Arena in Wellington. Not only the Ferns got away with a tight first quarter but they too were so dominant in the 2nd 15 going into half-time by nine goals over the Aussie Diamonds at half-time (34-25). 

Yes, the Diamonds did play catch-up having won the third quarter alone as they were only seven goals behind (47-40) at three quarter time. But at the end of the day, it was barely even enough to steer the ship for the Diamonds as the Ferns kept on extending their lead thanks to a formula that was simply just fine like it was in the dead rubber 3rd Test win v England. 

Although Head Coach Dame Noelene Taurua was happy enough to make these late changes off the bench when she had nothing left to lose as the clock ticks down. She couldn’t be more prouder than that to see her Ferns side win by a comfortable 14-goal win (60-54) with 1-0 up in the series as there’s three more games to go in this Trans-Tasman contest.

First things first, let’s start with Kate Heffernan who was brought back into the Silver Ferns starting line up tonight at Wing Defense. Not only she was outstanding mainly in defense but also restarted well in attack every time she has the ball. That’s all you need to know about Kate as this has been her best game tonight and also coming from her best position too, especially when you got her new Steel (and also current Ferns) team-mate Kimiora Poi coming over next season – another plus too for Southland. Yes, we wished Kate would put in the exact same shift when the Ferns recently played v England. But class is permanent & she wants to keep on going until Kate is happy what she wants such as the series trophy.

Next up is Maddy Gordon in the middle of the Ferns engine as she never disappoints every time on-court like imagine if she gets to play Super Netball but still allowed to play for her country? She would’ve helped them retain the Taini Jamison Trophy. But still long way to go though at present with the Constellation Cup & what Maddy wants to do now is keep that good form up for Game 2 on Wednesday (Auckland) before all in & hope she can help bring home that Trans-Tasman series trophy. For now, she worked really well like the read/communication that got the best out of the Ferns front two in Ameliaranne Ekenasio (Goal Attack) & Grace Nweke (Goal Shooter) – even from long range like a rocket as seen with the Central Pulse.

And Sarah Klau did the best she can in a Diamonds shirt when she came on for Jo Weston at goal defense. She’s so important when needed in both crucial defensive positions as seen with the NSW Swifts, having denied the Ferns some attacking opportunities along the way while winning that 3rd quarter win alone. If she started this match then that might have added some more confidence considering she’s has a plethora of experience in a championship-winning side before. It’s a shame that the Diamonds attack looked bereft unfortunately tonight, particularly with their mid-court & front two. Still more time to turn things around as they’re not panicking just yet with three games to go.

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2024 Hockey One: A fiery Saturday afternoon with Tassie Tigers’ winning comeback in the Men’s & Zoe Newman solid behind goal via penalties in the women’s game for NSW Pride

by Sports Benches

It’s been a really fiery & hotly competitive afternoon of Hockey One at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre in Hobart with back-to-back opening round Saturday matches involving the Men’s and Women’s Tassie Tigers and NSW Pride. We’ll start with the men’s 3pm game and NSW were off to a fantastic start where they scored two first half goals (one off each quarter), although Tassie got one back before both teams gone into half-time with a one-goal difference (1-2).

Now both sides may have went scoreless in the 3rd but the match isn’t over just yet and at the end of the day, the script was flipped at the hands of Tassie courtesy of Jack Welch who scored a stunning 4th quarter hat-trick goal to seal his Tassie side the opening round victory by 4-3. A lot can change when one hour is not a long time to break things down with commiserations to NSW where they fired off well as said – despite some early ill-discipline; But they just couldn’t either safeguard the game or stop Welch in their tracks.

Then we move straight into the 2nd match of the afternoon involving the respective women’s teams and this time, it went down the wire via penalty shootouts once again with the opening match already been decided in that sort of fashion last night – and it turns out the Hockey Club Melbourne did win that game over the host team Adelaide Fire at MATE Stadium 3-1 when they both drew 1-1 all in normal time. Don’t forget the Melbourne team also won the opening men’s game also last night thanks to a great start with Kaide Leigh scoring the double to put the match into bed while Craig Marais helped them extend their winning, even though the Fire’s late comeback from behind unfortunately fell so short by a single goal (4-3).

Back to this match now and the first half saw NSW Pride scored three goals (only in the 2nd quarter) but Tassie also scored three goals of their own as well (only in the 3rd quarter) where both teams couldn’t find a way to settle the score when a hour is already up and both teams have one last chance to redeem themselves in penalties as it’s either win or lose for the Tigers and Pride.

Both teams got away with the penalty score sheets well while they both had issues with Tassie struggling to beat the keeper (Zoe Newman) & Mariah Williams unlucky not to wrap up her strike within the eight second rule for NSW. Fortunately for NSW, they didn’t have any other issues executing through the net with goalkeeper Newman being the hero there who stayed strong to deny Tassie another few shots behind the net – which was enough to secure the close win by 3-2 for NSW Pride.

Gotta say both teams put in such a brilliant fight as this is what Hockey One is all about across the men’s and women’s matches this afternoon with one match left tomorrow afternoon to finish off the round & six more weeks after this including the Finals weekend (also in Hobart) – it’s the Canberra Chill v Perth Thundersticks at the National Hockey Centre in Canberra.

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2024 Taini Jamison Trophy: Silver Ferns bounce back even they kept their starting 7 throughout the full hour with the late win

by Sports Benches

The Silver Ferns may not have come here tonight for the Taini Jamison Trophy since the series has already been decided the other day to the England Roses. However, they have at least something to offer ahead of the upcoming four-game Constellation Cup series later month following their five goal win in Invercargill by 61-56. They’ve won most quarters other than the 3rd with the four-goal lead from half-time where the Ferns still struggled at times such as ball retention, etc. 

Also, coach Dame Noeline Taurua may not had made any changes – despite leading by a few goals when she could’ve just make 1-2 late fresh faces as if it was a practice game ahead of the Trans-Tasman series. But again, a win is a win after all to finish things off on a high.

The Constellation Cup will begin two weeks from now on Sunday 20th October in Wellington followed by Auckland for Game 2 a few days later on Wednesday 23rd October. Then they will fly out to Australia to compete another two games there also Sunday 27th October in Perth and Wednesday 30th October in Melbourne to finish off the 2024 season.

Kelly Jackson, take a bow!! as She has been the Great Wall keeper of the Silver Ferns defensive back three after an outstanding performance tonight to shut down the England Roses pair of Helen Housby and Liv Tchine. She never disappoints every time she stars on-court at all levels including the highest Internationally. Also, she’s got her Central Pulse team-mate Parris Mason by her side including Maddy Gordon, who fortunately didn’t get hauled off this time at Centre which was good to see. No doubt we will see more of this trio later this month when they will take on the Aussie Diamonds.

Next up is the Silver Ferns Captain and veteran goal attack specalist Ameliaranne Ekenasio, having barely looked out of place as always alongside sharp shooter Grace Nweke in the Ferns attacking front two. She got away with 13 out of 14 shots at a total of 93% where she credits a functional mid-court pack that got the best out of her and Grace. They were able to help the Ferns win most of the quarters other than the 3rd part, which still needs some work as it’s something the Ferns need to work next time when they will take on the Aussie Diamonds. But other than that, a win is a win after all – despite not able to retain the Taini Jamison Trophy.

And last but not least, Liv Tchine’s stock is rising as England’s mainstay goal shooter at 22 years of age. She’s been making waves before at Domestic level with London Pulse in the Netball Superleague & Liv does not disappoint at all in the England Roses thanks to the likes of NSW Swifts star Helen Housby & another youngster Lois Pearson around her. Yes, Game 3 may have been a dead rubber when their back and mid-court areas might not have quite gelled as they would’ve like – especially when the Roses were chopping and changing with their bench while seeing a couple of new players getting tested here. But at least Liv knows where the net is and she’s loves doing this for fun as congratulations with the series win & sure we’ll hear more from her next time including Super Netball in Australia if she wants to test herself at the highest of levels at some point.

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Netball: England Roses too good over the Ferns in Game 2 by four goals that was enough to clinch the Taini Jaimson Trophy Series with one game to spare this Sunday

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, England have not only won Game 2 but also the Taini Jamison Trophy series at Te Rauparaha Arena with one game left going into this Sunday in Invercargill. Silver Ferns as we know it were always effective with their good starts having won the first quarter alone (16-13) followed by the first half (28-27). Then England began to flip the script when they were leading by a good gap of 4-8 goals, Although the Ferns did the best they can that late to stop the trophy from leaving its own shores. But at the end of the day, too good from England who were very certain to win this game once again by four goals (55-59) on top of a nail-biter Game 1 the other day (58-59). 

How can you not ignore Lois Pearson when she was an excellent support player to the England Roses front two tonight at Wing Attack? She’s got all sorts of running athleticism and the range of passing needed to help find her shooters in Helen Housby and Liv Tchine as well as being sound in defense thanks to the Ferns huge weakness through the mid-court. It turns out the Roses were leading so comfortably by a few goals while the game goes on, particularly throughout the 2nd half and yet Lois couldn’t go any wrong off the back of her excellent season both Domestic & Internationally. Keep a good eye on her over the next coming years as she will keep on getting better with age as being part of a winning series is a great first step & who knows if she’ll be willing to play in Australia’s Super Netball later on.

Here’s another England Roses player that also made a huge difference to stay well ahead of the Silver Ferns and it’s Beth Cobden who came on as reserve at Wing Defense. She brings a wealth of experience to the national setup, having kept a great eye on the Ferns mid-court area & Beth helped taken advantage of their errors with great hands. Goes to show she’s always needed when she’s ready even when Beth is also good with leadership around such a young and talented squad. Looks like she isn’t done just yet so she can make sure the Roses can be on top every time, next time – just like that series win tonight in Game No.2.

And Maddy Gordon was the one the Silver Ferns have been so desperate to stop the Roses in their tracks through the middle at centre thanks to the Ferns’ fast start and late comeback bid. Okay, as we all know, she was injured earlier this season and had to be on managed minutes on her way back on-court. But that doesn’t mean this can apply the same at International level and what happened without Maddy is that the Ferns weren’t simply dynamic as the Roses beyond the back defensive three & unfortunately, they left it too late when it comes to poor selection + chopping & changing tactics. They will have to wait next year to get that Taini Jamison Trophy back but they have to use Game 3 now as a practice match for the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds later this month.

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International Netball: England Roses win by one goal over the Silver Ferns to begin the 2024 Taini Jamison Trophy Series in Auckland

by Sports Benches

Nearly two months after the 2024 ANZ Premiership Grand Final, NZ Netball is back this time to begin their International season on home soil starting with the three-match Taini Jamison Trophy series v England Roses. It’s been a big arm wrestle between those two top-notch teams with the Ferns winning that first quarter while England were right next to them as both teams shared the scoreboard at half-time by 29-29. Later on, the Ferns’ starts/restarts never looked out of place but then England began to stretch a couple of goal leads going into the final 15 minutes. It was either Ferns or Roses to settle the score and it was the England Roses who won by just one goal (58-59) in Auckland. England lead the three-match series 1-0 going into Game 2 on Wednesday at Te Rauparaha Arena in Poirua which is the alternate current home of the Central Pulse.

Funmi Fadoju is the woman of the hour at goal defense for the England Roses, having done a spectacular job bombing up an inconsistent Silver Ferns front two attack. Who needs height when she’s got so much defensive quality alongside Fran Williams (she’s right around at 6ft by the way) at goal keeper? She also demonstrated some excellent attacking transition through the mid-court that got the best out of her front two where goals after goals were needed to steer clear off the Ferns. Keep a good eye on her who always keeps on improving like she did to the Diamonds over the past week in the Quad Series with more to come at age 22.

It’s not just Fadoju who is putting in these hard yards, Imogen Allison is another standout England Roses player to look at in the middle (centre position). She got away with 19 goal assists, 38 feeds and 4 general play turnovers that got the best out of her front two duo in Liv Tchine and Helen Housby. She too struck the perfect balance with credit to England’s solid defense while she was able to get around the Ferns backline on the counter-attack & yet her side has been pulling up trees from 2, 3, 4 goal leads to a relieved full-time win. Don’t forget she’s at the right place at 26 as Allison is already Queensland Firebirds bound next season.

And the Silver Ferns starring goal shooter and NSW Swifts bound Grace Nweke had a stunning shooting day after all, who only missed a couple of shots (49 out of 55) while making a couple of rebounds/general play turnovers to keep the Ferns in check. Grace credits the Ferns fast start and restart including the team’s solid defense. Yes, her team were so unlucky towards the end to England by just the one goal as at least a draw will do it. But she definitely needs support in & out of the circle, especially when it comes to the Ferns’s selection/tactics other than a rock-solid defense of their own & unfortunately that really cost them tonight.

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EFL Championship: Hull City’s impact 2nd half turnaround sealed their 1st win of the 2024/25 season as well as Narcis Pelach’s first loss into the new job at Stoke City by 3-1

by Sports Benches

It looked like at one stage that Stoke City had the keys following an early goal in the first half by Ben Wilmot following a huge change within management a few days ago. However at the end of the day, Hull City got away with the 3-1 win away from home at Bet365 Stadium. For Stoke, they dropped down a bit from 13th to 14th – even though they already sacked Steven Schumacher a few days ago and yet they continued to pay compensation once again to have Narcis Pelach onboard from Norwich City. Meanwhile, Hull got their first win of the 24/25 season following a series of draws and losses after Round 6.

A lot can change as thought Stoke fans would see some fresh breath of air thanks to Pelach as the new manager/head coach but again, they’ll have to give him time since it’s the boards choice to bring him on rather than going differently with a free agent option. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible not to bring someone young who is out of work or even promote within in-house as this is the way things are to align modern day’s football standards (i.e. promote youngsters with entertaining football) unfortunately should Pelach be gone within 1-2 years. Other than that, Stoke’s 2nd half wasn’t as good as the first including one own goal later on by their 1st half goal scorer Ben Wilmot (Centre-Half).

And congratulations to Hull with the win as still a long way to go when it comes to reaching Top 6 to have another opportunity to get themselves into the Premier League but it’s early days still between now and May. Yes, nothing much happened in the first half other than Stoke’s early lead but Hull did improve in a few ways later on via a brilliant team effort including some fresh faces off the bench & a Ben Wilmot own goal at the other end to safely guide them home. That midfield three engine was up and thriving today with Kasey Palmer (off a missed penalty kick) & Regan Slater providing them the goals & as said with the impact subs, Slater and Liam Millar (winger) proved to be the difference from the team’s poor 1st half into an excellent three-goal finish.

Hull may get the chance to move up the ladder when they will host the last-placed (24th) strugglers Cardiff City next Saturday, while Stoke will travel to Middlesbrough at the same time (currently 10th who will also face the high-flying Sunderland side later this weekend).

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Davis Cup Sunday: Spain tops Group B to finish off the Group Stage week in Valencia following a deciding doubles win with several shortcomings from Australia

by Sports Benches

Oh so close when Alexei Popyrin gave the Aussies a lifeline following his win in the 2nd singles match v Pedro Martinez & if Jordan Thompson won that first game, then we’ve would’ve been on top. But hats off to Spain though on bringing home the deciding doubles win (2-1 series win) that puts them on top of Group B. At least we know that the Aussies are already safe into November Finals week where the Top 8 will battle it out for one trophy also within Spain in Malaga since the Aussies finished 2nd with wins already warranted v France (2-1 series win thanks to our doubles duo of Matt Ebden & Max Purcell) and Czech Republic (3-0 whitewash win).

Gotta say we could’ve won that opening match with Jordan Thompson – who came back off a terrific US Open run lately up until the 4th round – being so close at one stage to try close it out v Pablo Carreno Busta. It’s a shame that his poor serves let him slip away off the back of a really good start before Busta won that opening singles match instead. The final score was 6-2, 2-6 and 6-7 via 7-3 tiebreaker. 

Then as said, Popyrin kept Australia’s hopes alive in the series going into the deciding doubles match for Ebden & Purcell to settle where he continued to be at his best this time v Martinez. His standards continued to soar also coming into the group stage week off his recent career best US Open run (4th Round) with the straight sets win 6-4 & 6-4.

Now we hoped Ebden & Purcell can get the job done v Marcel Granollers & Bautista Agut (again) since we’re always so strong in our doubles performances following a brilliant 2024. Yes, they too didn’t do bad where Ebden & Purcell were so close but not quite enough today unfortunately to hold back the Spanish duo to try bow out on top of Group B. The final score was 7-5, 4-6 and 4-6.

Even though it was a difficult finish to the series v Spain, the Aussies still had a brilliant week in Valencia nonetheless.

Now we have to find who will be our Quarter-Final opponent in the next few days before the road to reclaiming that prestigious trophy begins in late November. Hoping Alex De Minaur will be back fully fit for the right time alongside Popyrin with back up from Thompson as well as our strong doubles combo strikeforce of Ebden, Purcell & John Peers.

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2024 Davis Cup group stage week: Australia now one step to November’s Finals after a 3-0 whitewash win v Czech Republic

by Sports Benches

Gotta say the Aussies were too good v Czech Republic in their 2nd match of the 2024 Davis Cup group stages following a 3-0 whitewash ahead of the 3rd and final series tie this Sunday/Monday AM v Spain.

Glad to hear that Thanasi Kokkinakis was superb once again through the best of three sets in the opening singles game v Jakub Mensik. The first set was easy and although he was unlucky to close out the first attempt during the 2nd set tiebreak, but he found a way though to get things done without too much of a fuss towards the end though by 6-2, 6-7 (2-7 tie) & 6-3.

Going into the next game with Alexei Popyrin, okay, this was a bit different when Tomas Machac had to retire hurt not long after the 2nd singles game was started – in which was so unfortunate to hear.

But a win is a win for the Aussies as they were happy to take it with the series win now already locked in 2-0 before we had one doubles tie to finish off the day featuring Matt Ebden & Max Purcell. The duo have been an unstoppable force as always this time in straight sets 6-4 & 6-2 v Jakub Mensik & Adam Pavlasek.

Now the Aussies still sit on top of Group B with one more series tie left to settle this weekend – they should be good to go for November’s Finals week as long as Spain win tomorrow v France. That way, they will do their absolute best with that Playoffs spot warranted by going all the way against one of the Top sides – especially when playing against one of the host nations over in Valencia. And let’s hope they will bring back Alex De Minaur back in time instead of Popyrin for one of their two singles matches alongside Kokkinakis.

Bring it on to wrap up Australia’s Davis Cup group stage week regardless of result that will hopefully put in a position where they can win that legendary trophy at some point soon enough.

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2024 Davis Cup Group-Stage Week: Matt Ebden & Max Purcell saves the day for the Aussies thanks to their doubles-deciding win over France with 2-1 in this 1st match tie 

by Sports Benches

Gotta say it has been a great finish to the 1st of the three Davis Cup 2024 group stage series matches for the Aussies v France from overnight in Valencia, Spain. Thanasi Kokkinakis got away with a pretty good start when he was simply at the top of his game v Arthur Fils in straight sets, even though this opening singles game wasn’t so easy indeed – 7-6 via 7-4 tiebreak & 7-6 via 7-3 tiebreak. Although in the second singles match, Ugo Humbert was too good for Alexei Popyrin also in straight sets (3-6 & 2-6) which was so unfortunate where Humbert tied with the Aussies at 1-1 apiece for France.

But this tie wasn’t over just yet with the doubles match to settle v the French featuring one of the Paris 2024 men’s double Olympic gold medalist Matt Ebden & one of the new US Open men’s double champ Max Purcell going up against Pierre Hueges Herbert & Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Fortunately, Ebden & Purcell saved the day thanks to our best doubles playing strikeforce as seen regularly across the grand slam tournaments and team group circuit.

They fired off really well where there were some bumps along the way when it comes to the second set but eventually found a way to close out though with the 2-1 series win v France. The final score was 7-5, 5-7 & 6-3 as the Aussies are now onto the 2nd of three series ties in Group B v Czech Republic on Friday morning. Then they will do the best they can possible depending on other results to finish off the group stage weekend on Monday morning v one of the top-ranked sides in Spain.

All they have to do is keep on fighting as another series win would see them one step closer towards locking in that November Finals week spot where the final eight teams will be competing for that one prestigious silverware & no doubt we’d like to have it back this time around after back-to-back recent Final attempts like last year and the year before (in 2022).

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2024 US Open Men’s Final: Jannik Sinner secures his 2nd major title over USA’s Taylor Fritz in straight sets in New York

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Grand Slam Tennis season has ended this morning at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York with a thriller US Open men’s Final where one of the next generation superstars & current Australian Open Champ Jannik Sinner (Italy) secured his 2nd major title over USA’s Taylor Fritz in straight sets by 6-3, 6-4 and 7-5.

Hats off to Sinner on an excellent championship-winning performance, who simply couldn’t resist the best of Fritz, as his result goes to reflect these high standards set in today & tomorrow’s elite Tennis world. His opponent there may not been Novak or Alcaraz but it’s still a Final and Sinner was never out of place all along, especially when playing on the hard courts. Sure, there’s some room for improvement when it comes to Roland Garros and Wimbledon. But as said, he’s always good on the hard courts considering his great success at these Aussie and US Open grand slams as well as last year’s Davis Cup triumph for Italy.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t the match Taylor Fritz was hoping for in front of his home fans where he too wasn’t bad against this next generation champ in Sinner. He had some great moments at times that could’ve sparked a huge shift when he was so close to at least winning a set of each one in this US Open Men’s Final. However, he just couldn’t quite find the checkpoint that put him under all sorts of pressure before it was too late off the back of some poor double fault serves, etc. He came back from a long way where he’s been improving throughout the 2024 Grand Slam season with 2 x Quarter-Finals followed by a breakthrough Final on home soil & sure this isn’t going to be the last we’ll see the best of Fritz going into 2025.

Now bring on Davis Cup week starting Tuesday/Wednesday AM our time in Valencia, Spain where our Aussies are set to begin their journey with matches against France & Czech Republic before we finish off the weekend v hosts Spain. 

Let’s hope we can get that November Finals spot booked in on time with our great line-up led by Team Captain Lleyton Hewitt that features Alex De Minaur (depending on his hip), Thanasi Kokkinakis & Alexei Popyrin including our strong doubles arsenal with the likes of Matt Ebden, Jordan Thompson & Max Purcell.

We’ve been in the big dance twice even though the Aussies didn’t win that trophy while seeing Canada and Italy dominate centre stage back in 2022 & 2023 respectively. However, our best crop of men’s players are still trending everywhere with De Minaur always in the last 8 over his last three grand slams; So does Ebden & John Peers who won Olympic gold in Paris last month, and don’t forget Purcell & Thompson yesterday as well in the men’s US Open doubles Final win. 

So lots to look forward with the best of Australian Tennis over the next few months between now and this summer ahead of the next Australian Open at Melbourne Park from mid to late January.

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