England’s netballers were beaten 68-50 by world number one side Australia in their quest to win bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
The day after Saturday morning’s frustrating semi-final loss to New Zealand, England tried to rally themselves to get on the podium but came up against a Diamonds team recovering from one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history.
Australia – who had previously been in every Commonwealth final and won the tournament four times – were stunned by Jamaica on Saturday afternoon, giving them less time to recover for the bronze-medal match than England.
The crowd responded to a lively start as great pressure from Roses captain Fran Williams led to Australia shooter Kiera Austin missing a shot with the score at 5-5, and Liv Tchine neatly slotted the ball in to open up a lead at the other end.
England worked hard to shut down the Diamonds’ forward-passing options, forcing them to play sideways, but the team in green and gold found their rhythm with devastating consequences, overturning a 9-7 deficit to lead 19-11 in a bruising seven-minute first-quarter spell for the Roses.
Anna Stembridge’s side, who lost 66-47 to the same opponents in the pool stage, then lacked impetus in the second period, showing signs of tired legs against one of the world’s most established shooting partnerships in Austin and Sophie Garbin.
A loose pass from Williams sent the ball straight into Australia’s hands, allowing Austin to calmly extend the gap to 28-16 and her side kept the margin steady, resulting in a half-time score of 35-24.
With Australia leading by 16 points in the third quarter, England rolled the dice by bringing on shooter Eleanor Cardwell for Tchine, and her presence helped the Roses score five without reply to trail 45-34 and then 49-36 with 15 minutes left to play.
Bronze is not a colour of medal that Australia ever imagined they would be playing for, but what seemed just as important to them was reminding the world what they are capable of and why they have been such feared opponents.
In that respect, Stacey Marinkovich’s Diamonds shone as ultimate professionals, and England again came up short against a top side, losing by one less point than the pool stage match between the teams.
Jamaica – who have never won netball gold at the Games – will play two-time champions New Zealand in Sunday afternoon’s gold-medal match (13:00).