It was a close game but the Australian Under-21 side won the Digicel Punjas International Youth Netball Series beating New Zealand 52-43 at the Vodafone Arena last night.

Australia took the early lead with most of their points scored by Emma Ryde to lead the first quarter 13-12.

New Zealand came back in the second quarter to tie the game 25-25.

But Australia proved too strong winning the third and last quarter 36-35 and 52-43 respectively.

Coach Tania Obst was pleased with the performance.

“It was a great game, our intention was to come out and try out a few different combination and we made changes,” Obst said.

“I was really pleased with the way the girls stuck to what we wanted to do out there. I thought we were pretty relentless in our defence.

“The girls really improved from their first game up to the final. This tournament has really helped us see what we are lacking in the squad and what our strong points are.”

Edited by Osea Bola

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