Commonwealth Games 2018: Australia and England to battle for netball gold
NETBALL’S new world order will feature a sporting rivalry 140 years in the making with Australia to meet England in Sunday’s gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games.
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NETBALL’S new world order will feature a sporting rivalry 140 years in the making with Australia to meet England in Sunday’s gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games.
Australia dismantled New Zealand with a 65-44 thumping on Saturday night to earn their berth in netball’s version of the Ashes, while England won a 56-55 nailbiter against Jamaica for their first appearance in a Commonwealth Games decider.
It will be the first netball gold medal shootout in the history of the Commonwealth Games to not feature Australia against New Zealand after a disastrous campaign from the Silver Ferns that included losses to Malawi and England.
The besieged Kiwis had to face the all-conquering Diamonds in the semi-final and they felt the full force of a deep, talented and cohesive Australian side at the peak of its powers.
With a starting seven of captain Caitlin Bassett, Susan Pettitt, Madi Robinson, Kim Ravaillion, Gabi Simpson, Jo Weston and Laura Geitz, Australia exploded out of the blocks and established some early breathing room with an 18-12 quarter-time lead.
It was more of the same for the Diamonds in the second term as they extended their lead to 32-21 at halftime as they showed no mercy on their long-time archrivals.
Australian coach Lisa Alexander injected Caitlin Thwaites, Steph Wood, Liz Watson and Courtney Bruce into the line-up for the third term and the Diamonds continued to shine, ruthlessly kicking away to a 20-goal buffer at the last change to add to a broken New Zealand’s miserable time on the Gold Coast.
Bassett (17 goals), Pettitt (15 goals), Thwaites (24 goals) and Wood (nine goals) shared the scoring load with Maria Folau leading the Silver Ferns with 32 goals.
England were the first team through to the tournament showpiece after a thrilling 56-55 triumph over Jamaica at Coomera as goal shooter Jo Harten calmly knocked down the winning goal on the buzzer to complete a remarkable comeback.
“It was a really good game for us to go into the final because it shows grit and determination, and it shows anything can happen,” England’s Joanne Harten said.
“For us it’s about being clinical, finishing off when we get the turnover and just making every ball count. We’re going to go at it all guns blazing.”
After the teams were locked together at 15-all at quarter-time, a disciplined Jamaica put the foot down in the second term and led by six goals at halftime.
The ‘Sunshine Girls’ had a four-point lead going into the final quarter when they committed a number of costly turnovers in the dying minutes to allow England to roar back.
The average age of the English side is 29-years-old — four years older than Jamaica’s average age — and experience was priceless in the run home as they held their nerve.
Jamaica have to pick up the pieces in time for a bronze medal clash with New Zealand today (Sun). The teams met twice before the Games and Jamaica won both matches.
Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett said as impressive as Australia was against New Zealand, the home nation could go up another gear.
“I can’t wait to get out there against England. They will be a completely different challenge for us,’’ Bassett said.
“But when this group has to face a challenge, we step up to the next level.
“We always knew in the first half we would have to weather a storm from New Zealand so we had to come out and hit it hard.
“We let them back into it a bit in the second quarter but we will have a look at that and try to improve on that against England.’’
Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2018: Australia and England to battle for netball gold