Netball's Finest Hour

There are many great sporting rivalries in sport: the Yankees and the Red Sox, Manchester United against Liverpool, the All Blacks versus the Springboks. Arm wrestles year after year, and nothing is more important in the universe. But there is one that is only spoken of locally but is as intense and competitive as anything I have ever witnessed, and that is the annual duel between the New Zealand Silver Ferns and the Australian Diamonds in netball.

The jewel in each teams' crown is either the world championship or the Commonwealth Games, both held every four years. This week, Australia's champion netball team slumped to a second consecutive loss in a Commonwealth Games final, a two-goal double overtime heartbreaker against New Zealand. Worse still, defeat came in the last event of India's Games against the arch enemy who inflicted that Melbourne 2006 loss on home turf.

Both sides were locked when the full time whistle sounded after an Australian fightback from seven goals down, and they remained locked after the first period of of extra time. Then New Zealand and Australia went goal for goal in double overtime for ten nerve-wracking minutes in search of the win. Finally the Diamonds cracked when Cath Cox's shot to win bounced off the rim, Silver Ferns shooter Maria Tutaia's attempt dropped in to give New Zealand a classic 66-64 win.

The great thing is, that this titanic struggle is the norm, not the exception. It is often only a mere couple of points that separate the two after each match, so well matched are they. One thing is for sure, a loss is like losing an arm or a leg, so fierce is the competition. Some of the best matches, in any sport, anywhere, at any time!