Auld enemies collide
Advantage England as they defeat the Scots
England’s hopes of winning a first World Cup were thrown into disarray yesterday when Layla Guscoth was ruled out of the tournament after rupturing her Achilles in the 70-34 win over Scotland.
Guscoth, a certain starter in big knockout matches, had played just 12 minutes at goal defence when she turned her left ankle attempting to keep the Scottish attack at bay in Liverpool.
She immediately knew the seriousness of the damage, hobbling straight off court and throwing her bib to the ground on her way to the changing room before failing to reappear for the rest of the match. News that she had ruptured her Achilles then followed later in the evening.
Tracey Neville, England head coach, said: “Layla is an amazing addition to our team and we are so disappointed that she won’t be joining us on court for the rest of this tournament.
“It is devastating that her journey in this World Cup is over but myself and all of the Roses are by her side supporting her through this time. We will do everything we can to ensure she is back playing again soon.”
Missing a home World Cup is a cruel blow for Guscoth, who opted to sit out last year’s Commonwealth Games triumph to complete her doctor training. It also causes a significant headache for head coach Tracey Neville. As well as Guscoth forming a crucial cog in England’s defensive wheel, her absence leaves Neville with just 11 players rather than 12 to navigate a rapid succession of matches. No injury replacements are allowed.
“At the moment it’s all just about keeping fresh legs,” said goal keeper Geva Mentor. “We’re using a lot of these games not only to improve performances but also keep people as fresh as possible, particularly leading into the pointy end of this tournament.
“That’s probably where it changes things, but we’ve done enough work leading into this that our fitness is high and we can handle it.”
Nonetheless, Neville knows the importance of keeping her players fresh while traversing these simple group stage matches, as was evident in her team selection yesterday. Guscoth was one of just three England players to retain their places from the victory over Uganda on Friday, as Neville opted to give her back-up players game time on court and her starters some important rest on the bench.
It was one of those squad members, England’s oldest player, Rachel Dunn, who stole the show, staying on court for the entire match and narrowly missing her half-century with 49 goals at an impressive shooting accuracy of 94 per cent.
Omitted from Neville’s Commonwealth Games squad last year, Dunn’s England career looked to be over, only for her to play a starring role in the Quad Series victory over Australia after a recall earlier this year.
She was a constant pest for the Scottish defence, only missing her first shot after a 21-goal scoring streak as she repeatedly dragged her markers this way and that.
When Neville decided to throw on usual starting goal shooter Jo Harten for the final quarter, she did so not at the expense of Dunn, instead putting Helen Housby in the unconventional position of wing attack with Harten at goal attack and Dunn retaining the shooting bib. Perhaps the England coach just felt she could not take it off her.
“We knew we had to go out there and try and put on a dominant display,” said Dunn. “I don’t keep a [goal] tally. I was just looking at the scoreline hoping we could build a lead. It was personally clicking and I knew I hadn’t missed many. But every shot I treat as an independent one, so I was just going out there trying to score.”
Nowhere is the disparity in strength between teams at a Netball World Cup more apparent than with Scotland. Their club arm, Strathclyde Sirens, who feature all but one member of the Scottish squad, could only finish ninth of 10 teams in the Superleague earlier this year.
Yet despite their domestic travails, Scotland still came into this tournament ranked seventh in the world. That bare statistic showed the likely mismatch on court in a horticultural battle of Roses against Thistles.
The Scotland changes were relentless from start to finish, as head coach Gail Parata shuffled her pack like an anxious croupier. Was it a tactical move in a bid to ensure legs are fresh for Sunday’s match against Uganda or a sign of desperation?
The regular substitutions had little impact although there was no one more impressive than 6ft 4in goal shooter Emma Barrie who, aged just 17, held her own admirably against arguably the best defence in the world. Barrie’s future is surely bright, but the remaining members of that England defence now have more work than they bargained for over the coming days.
‘We’re using a lot of the games not only to improve displays but also to keep people as fresh as possible’