The crowd at the Echo Arena in Liverpool were treated to a superb display of netball when England took on the world number one side, Australia. Spurred on by their semi final defeat at the Commonwealth Games, England were out for revenge against their long standing rivals.
Things started well with an early turnover and put the first points on the board after Louisa Brownfield found the net. From then, the sides swapped goals with Stacey Francis and Sonia Mkoloma looking strong in defence, piling the pressure on the Aussie shooters. There was nothing in it when the whistle blew at the end of the first quarter, with the score 5-4 in England’s favour.
England started to crank up the pace and profited from a couple of midcourt turnovers while in the opposition circle, the Australians were looking wobbly, allowing England to go 10-7 ahead.
The third quarter saw the hosts claim their Power Play but it didn’t go according to plan and after turning over the Australian centre, they missed a straightforward chance to go further in front.
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Rachel Dunn secured England their first set of double points after two minutes in a quarter that was sparsely populated with shots or goals. There was a flurry towards the end but Australia delivered a severe blow when they netted a goal from outside the circle to bag double points and close the gap to 20-13.
Australia claimed their Power Play in the final quarter and despite some centre court turnovers, a couple of two-pointers saw the Diamonds leap from eight goals down to being back level. A run of penalties deprived England of crucial possession in the last few minutes and the match finished with a final score of 25-25.
Earlier in the day, Jamaica made it two wins from two with a 34-22 win over South Africa to head the table. Malawi and New Zealand came face to face and it was a tight finish with the Silver Ferns edgeing ahead to take the game 29-23.
Kirsty Page, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
