England fought back to beat South Africa 58-54 to reach the netball semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Both sides needed to win to book a spot in the last four and England roared back from an early 17-11 deficit after the first quarter to keep their hopes of a second Commonwealth gold alive.
The Vitality Roses will face New Zealand in the second of Saturday’s semi-finals after Australia play Jamaica, then the gold and bronze-medal matches take place on Sunday.
“Shout out to Halimat Adio. She was unreal in that second quarter. So proud of her to bring us that energy and get us back in the game when we needed it,” captain Francesca Williams told TNT Sports.
“We have been under pressure all week to perform so for us to finish out a game like that and ride the wave of goal for goal in the last quarter and come out on top, I’m so proud.”
Halimat Adio player a pivotal role for England to slow down South Africa’s Elmere van der Berg (PA)
England got off to a nervy start as South Africa goal shooter Elmere van der Berg came flying out of the blocks with 16 goals from 19 attempts which silenced the crowd at the OVO Hydro.
Halimat Adio and Funmi Fadoju came on, which tightened up England’s defence, and it changed the momentum of the match as they slowly got themselves back into the contest to trail just 29-28 at half-time.
England went on a charge early in the third quarter with five consecutive goals to move 35-30 ahead and took a 45-41 lead into the last quarter.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh attended the match (PA)
As the clock ran down, England calmly maintained their slender four-goal advantage as Olivia Tchine and Lois Pearson kept their composure up front to get Anna Stembridge’s side over the line.
Stembridge stepped up to become head coach just four months before the Commonwealth Games after Jess Thirlby resigned.
Netball has been in the Commonwealth Games since 1998 but England have never won a medal when it has been held in the United Kingdom.
Commonwealth Games Netball Schedule
Saturday August 1
9am: Australia vs Jamaica (semi-final 1)
1pm: New Zealand vs England (semi-final 2)
Sunday August 2
9am: Bronze medal match
1pm: Gold medal match
Leave a Reply