The Fijian Under-21 netball team yesterday beat Samoa 37-29 in the second day of the Digicel Punjas International Youth Netball Series.

The Vicki Wilson-coached side made a slow start but managed to level the score 7-7 after the first quarter.

“It was a very slow scoring game and it just showed how both teams struggled with their conditioning,” Wilson said.

“The ball was slippery, they didn’t adjust, we struggled.”

But Wilson said they improved on their defence

“Defensively we improved a lot in particular Verenaisi Sawana, Merelita Radiniceva and Episake Gaunavinaka,”Wilson said.

“Our forwards line just sprayed the ball a little bit too much and squandered a lot opportunities. We also lacked discipline in our centre passes, lack of attention to the finer details proved very costly.”

In the second quarter Samoan goal-shooter Eternall Stewart was replaced after colliding with Merelita Radiniceva. Halftime: Fiji 19-14 Samoa

The Fijian girls committed a lot of basic mistakes resulting in Laisani Waqa replacing Vilisi Tavui as goal-shooter.

“It was wonderful to get a win but I think overall we wouldn’t be pleased with the pace we played the game,”Wilson said.

Samoan assistant coach Philippa Matia said the girls made progress since they played the Fijians six months ago.

“We’re happy with the progress the girls made so far but there are areas we need to work on,”Matia said.

“The game was really physical and we look forward to play against Fiji again to gauge our performance. It has been a great tournament for us to try some different combination but also see the areas that we need to improve on.”

The crowd cheered and rallied behind the Fijians for a well deserved 37-29 win.

Edited by Osea Bola

 paulini.ratulailai@fijisun.com.fj