NETBALL WORLD CUP: NI 24-88 Australia

Northern Ireland have suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the world's best in the netball World Cup.

Dan Ryan's side went into the game as massive underdogs and were beaten 88-24 by the Diamonds in Liverpool on Friday.

The two sides last clashed at the Commonwealth Games in 2018- with the hosts winning 94-26 on the Gold Coast.

However, the Warriors still managed to move up the world rankings in that campaign, climbing their way to eighth position.

Australia have held the prestigious title of World Champions since 2007 and as a native Aussie himself, Dan says the opportunity to play against the Diamonds is a great learning curve:

"We know it was going to be a really tough ask and it was an onslaught from the start to the finish and it was relentless.

"The biggest thing we've spoken about as a team is the learning that we're going to take from it.

"You don't get the opportunity to feel the relentlessness, the intensity, the tenacious approach that the Diamonds have unless you actually play against them."

The former Manchester Thunder boss has been preparing the side since November, after replacing Head Coach Elaine Rice in November.

He praised some of his youngest players for their first ever performance in the competition:

"For some of our girls that was the very first time for others, it's been 12 months since they've had that experience, they get it once every four years or even less.

"So to feel it is one thing and it's now about reflecting on it and learning from the experience so they're better equipped to handle the occasion in our next couple of games.

"That's what the World Cup is about for us, it's about keeping perspective and learning every time they're out there so it was a great opportunity."

The number one ranked team held the lead after the first quarter, 24-7 to set the precedent for the rest of the match.

Half time saw the Warriors down by a 30 goal deficit, 45-15.

But Dan Ryan's side took a hammer blow in the third quarter when Centre Caroline O'Hanlon suffered a nasty knock and was helped off the court.

The skipper collided with Australian Wing Defence Jamie-Lee Price during a contest.

Dan said she is being assessed and he's hopeful she will be fit to play against Sri Lanka on Saturday:

"Yea it was a massive hit, a massive fall but from all reports at this stage she's ok.

"So we'll just assess again shortly and see how she pulls up but obviously she's huge to our campaign so fingers crossed she's up for tomorrow."

With the Northern Ireland captain on the sidelines for the final quarter, the team managed just five goals.

And shooting statistics revealed just a 60% success rate.

Dan says there is plenty of room for improvement:

"There were some times where we put ourselves under pressure as well, obviously the Diamonds were on everything and they were making us work for absolutely every single ball we had.

"But I felt with some of the situations we were making or not making, we were making the situation worse for ourselves."

Northern Ireland's second game in the preliminaries stage one of the competition takes place against Sri Lanka on Saturday, 0925.