The New Zealand women's netball team has given outgoing coach Ruth Aitken a fond final home match after defeating England 53-32 at the ILT Velodrome in Invercargill.
The result ensured New Zealand won their mini-series against England 2-0, a perfect preparation for their upcoming three-test series against Australia to contest the Constellation Cup later in October.
The match also served as goal-shooting veteran Irene van Dyk's 200th international netball match in a 17-year career that included 72 tests for South Africa.
In a sign of the future, the 39-year-old was substituted at halftime. The only signs of frustration from the 1.9m machine? Missing one shot in an otherwise perfect outing as usual for New Zealand's favourite shooter after shooting 20/21.
The match also saw Kayla Cullen make her starting debut at wing defence, a position she made her own for the Northern Mystics in the ANZ Championship earlier this year.
Aitken walked out on court to rapturous applause from the Invercargill crowd who arrived in their thousands to send off Kiwi netball's most loveable figure.
New Zealand started slowly at the beginning of the match. But they grew as the match wore on, with a seven-goal streak a sign of things to come for the women in the black bibs.
With a 14-5 lead after the first quarter it was always going to be too high a mountain to climb for England, and the lead only inflated as van Dyk and Maria Tutaia continued to find theirs ranges.
As a result, England limped off the court in the second half with an 18-point deficit staring them in the face.
Such was the blowout of the scoreline, Aitken introduced an all-new shooting combination with Cathrine Latu and Paula Griffin both introduced to give them some time under their belt.
England, however, gave the home side a fight in the second half, with a better defensive-based game forcing the New Zealanders into errors.
But just as they looked to make improvements on defence their shooting accuracy eluded them, with eventually finishing Rachel Dunn 21/33, Jo Hartern with 10/14, while Rachel Shaw registered her first (and only) goal for England.
Latu, however, showed her shooting was as hot as ever, with her perfect 13/13 ensuring she finished the series with a 100 per cent, 30/30 effort. Griffin's 11/17 was solid and featured some shots from long range.
Van Dyk, Aitken and long-time team doctor Judie Golden were all honoured for their enormous contributions to netball in New Zealand by Netball New Zealand CEO Raelene Castle, and the standing ovation from all those who stayed spoke volumes for their legacies for the sport.
Final score:
New Zealand: 53
Irene van Dyk 20/21
Maria Tutaia 9/13
Cathrine Latu 13/13
Paula Griffin 11/17
England: 32
Rachel Dunn 21/33
Jo Harten 10/14
Rachel Shaw 1/3