England will leave the Commonwealth Games without a medal in netball after suffering a comprehensive 68-50 defeat to Australia at the Hydro in Glasgow.
The Vitality Roses never really got going against a team who had already handed them a damaging defeat in the pool stage of the tournament, and a 19-10 Diamonds lead at the end of the first quarter proved to be unassailable for Anna Stembridge’s side.
Australia, on the other hand, regain some pride by winning the bronze after their 46-45 defeat to Jamaica in their semi-final, meaning they extend their record of winning a medal in netball at each of the seven Commonwealth Games since the sport was introduced in 1998.
Sophie Garbin of Australia and Halimat Adio of England in action
“It was just so tough,” England captain Fran Williams told TNT Sport. “When you come off the back with such a short turnaround to play in a game where you would be rather playing [the gold-medal match] later on is really hard.
“I was really proud of the way we showed up at the start and we just showed we weren’t able to hold onto that with how the score blew out.
“We are gutted with that. Really disappointed.”
Francesca Williams of England and team-mates appear dejected following their defeat to Australia
The Roses – who arguably exceeded expectations after a turbulent build-up to the tournament including the departure of their head coach Jess Thirlby in March – got off to a fast start, managing to tie 9-9 with Australia in the first quarter, but the Roses scored just two more goals for the Diamonds’ next 10 as the reigning Commonwealth champions started to establish a lead.
A 35-24 half-time deficit left England with a chance of getting back into the game, but Sophie Garbin’s hat-trick for Australia towards the end of the period left a hefty lead of 13 for Stembridge’s side to overturn, and a deflated fourth-quarter from England allowed the Diamonds to extend their lead to 18 and secure the bronze,
Australia’s 19-11 lead after the first quarter proved too large for England to overturn
“Yesterday was a really tough day for the whole group,” Asutralia captain Liz Watson told TNT Sports. “The way we came out and responded and have a really good performance and make a statement.
“We’re disappointed about how we finished up with the bronze but we know how hard international netball is at the moment.
“We love to put on this dress, we have such a rich history of success with the Diamonds and we pride ourselves on doing that and wanting to be better.”
Commonwealth Games netball schedule/results
Sunday August 2
Bronze-medal match – Australia 68-50 England
1pm: Gold-medal match – Jamaica vs New Zealand
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