England Defeats Australia 56-55
The world number one Australian Diamonds headed into their final group stage match against England 7-0 in the tournament and unbeaten against the Roses all time at the World Cup.
By the end of the game, they were no longer undefeated against England or in the World Cup as they fell by a score of 56-55.
The Australians put plenty of pressure on the English in the opening quarter but they handled it brilliantly as the Roses were able to consistently stifle the Aussie attacks.
On the offensive end, the elite English duo of Helen Housby and Eleanor Cardwell proved to trouble the Australian defense. That, combined with English coach Jess Thirlby’s introduction of 20-year-old Funmi Fadojo at the 10-minute mark helped guide England to a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich made a move of her own heading into the second quarter as she brought on Sarah Klau in place of Courtney Bruce at goalkeeper. The decision paid dividends as Klau had extremely active hands and was tipping everything, causing turnovers and disrupting the Roses offense.
Australia dominated the quarter with Goal Attack Steph Wood the recipient and finisher of a number of Diamond attacks which led them to a 19-11 quarter and 32-26 halftime lead.
In what was a theme of this match, the momentum swung once again in third quarter as the Roses played brilliant netball. A number of substitutions and position changes paid dividends for the Roses as they won the quarter 18-13.
Though the Roses played well, the Aussies were uncharacteristically poor in the quarter as unforced errors and lapses in their defensive end opened the door for the Roses to come back.
Heading into the final quarter the Diamonds led 45-44 but the momentum was on the side of the Roses. They immediately continued where they left off in the third quarter causing a Diamond error off the centre pass and going on the tie the match at 45s.
The quarter stayed tight throughout and was a back-and-forth affair with neither side being able to fully take control of the match.
With just two minutes to play after a whole quarter of the teams trading goals, the Diamonds tied the match at 55.
The Roses stayed composed and moved the ball down the court as Helen Housby eventually found her attacking partner Eleanor Cardwell who scored her 34th goal to put the Roses up one with 45 seconds remaining. The Diamonds worked their way down the court trying to find an equalizer until Fran Williams jumped a passing lane and tipped the ball into the hands of the Roses who went on to run out the clock.
Semi-Finals Outlook
With the loss, the Diamonds finish second in their group and are now set to face Jamaica tonight in a semi-final rematch of last year’s Commonwealth Games final.
In that match Australia was able to narrowly take the win 55-51 showing that Jamaica will be no walkover. The two teams have the best odds of winning the World Cup according to betting sites as Australia still stand as the favourites with Jamaica not far behind.
England, as Group F winners are set to take on New Zealand in the semis in a rematch of the Commonwealth Games bronze medal match which the Silver Ferns won 55-48.
