Australia pip hosts England to continue winning run at Netball Nations Cup
Australia have pipped hosts England by two goals to notch consecutive wins at the Netball Nations Cup in London.
The Diamonds triumphed over England 61-59 at Wembley Arena on Monday (AEDT) to follow their opening 13-goal win over New Zealand.
In a repeat of last year’s World Cup final which Australia won in Cape Town, England overturned a five-goal half-time deficit and led by two goals going into the final period.
But Australia rallied, scoring 18 goals to 14 in the last stanza to clinch victory with goal shooter Sophie Garbin landing 26 from 27 attempts.
“[England] certainly contested really hard and we were struggling to get the ball at different times,” Diamonds coach, Stacey Marinkovich, said.
“So we used personnel changes to keep changing things up. But that was international netball at its highest, the crowd was loud, it’s hard to think and that’s what you want in these competitions.
“There’s a bit of banter out there and it’s certainly passionate on court. The girls know each other extremely well and I think sometimes the more you know someone, the more freedom you have to go harder.”
England’s Helen Housby was given a guard of honour from both teams to mark her 100th international game for the Roses.
England must now beat world No 2 New Zealand in their final group match in Leeds to reach the decider of the tournament which also features world No 7 Uganda.
Australia meet the Africans for the first time in their history, also next Saturday.
“The girls are extremely excited to go out and embrace that moment, it’s very historic for Netball Australia,” Marinkovich said. “We have just got to keep on the way we’re playing ... keep doing our job.”
Uganda came close to causing an upset against the Silver Ferns but eventually were beaten 65-60 by the 2019 World Cup winners.
In the opening round on Sunday Australia downed arch-rivals New Zealand by 13 goals in a triumphant start to their international year.
The Diamonds prevailed 63-50 with midcourter Liz Watson the dominant force.
“To have that scoreline against the Ferns is a big win for us, which is awesome,” Watson said.
“I am really loving this group. We’re very close, we’ve had lots of fun and a really nice build.”
The Roses also made a winning start to their campaign, defeating Uganda 62-56.
England’s head coach, Jess Thirlby, said she was pleased with the opening performance.
“I think it was just the test that we needed,” she said.
“There were some good reminders, we didn’t stay in the contest for long enough, I think we were a bit short on some of our running lines. So we just need to tidy up on that and we were lacking a bit of connection at the start defensively.”