England Fall To Australia In Bath

1 month ago 14th Oct 10:24

Australia showed why they are still the world’s best team after coming on strong to make it a convincing win over England in the Co-operative International Series maintaining their impressive test record against their great rivals.

If you don’t count the weekend’s defeat in the Co-operative World Netball Series simply because it was Fast Net and not the full traditional game, then you have to go back to the early 80s to find the last England victory. 

Back then England’s head coach Sue Hawkins and her assistant Kendra Slawinksi were on opposing sides and squaring up on court, and as TV commentator Charlie Brougham notes in the Sky Sports coverage out of the England squad only Karen Atkinson and Sonia Mkoloma had been born.

All in all the meeting at the University of Bath Netball Centre meant a change of pace for those who had battled through the six minute quarters in Manchester. England took the first centre but were turned over early on by the strong Australian defence and it was the Diamonds who put the first goal on the board and attempted to bully their way into a lead.

They were looking strong at 5-3 ahead but as the ball slipped through the net England woke up. Co-captain Sonia Mkoloma bellowing out defensive calls as she marshalled the impressive Aussie skipper Sharelle McMahon in the GA bib. McMahon is such a great athlete to watch, like many of our netball stars, one move in the first quarter saw her tumbling off court and yet still managed to turn, shoot and score. 

Jade Clark, England WD, had a big influence on the second part of the quarter with a number of key interceptions and with Louisa Brownfield finding the net with her shots the momentum swayed England’s way.

The second quarter had it all, England started three goals ahead, moved into a five point lead, were hauled back to level pegging before ending the fifteen minute period on the wrong end of a 25-27 scoreline. 

It should have been a consolidation of  the good work from the first period and was frustrating to watch as a fan because the home side were looking so good, putting together some slick passages of play, but then so were the Australians and the Diamond’s lustre sparkled a little longer. 

It which made for fine entertainment for the packed crowd at the University of Bath Netball Centre who were merrily tootling on the endlessly irritating vuvuzelas that buzz so noisily (they are those giant kazoos that African football fans love so much). 

A physically strong performance by the home side in the attacking circle helped build that five goal lead, it was two and a half minutes before the ball made it to Australian shooter. Karen Atkinson’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon inspired flying interception early on was one of the highlights of an impressive passage of play. 

Unfortunately it was shortly after that the team allowed mistakes to creep in which did not impress England head coach Sue Hawkins, 'Error after error after error, they’ll turn it into a shot and you can’t afford to do that.' 

Failing to capitalise on the centre pass was also something the team will have to improve on according to Hawkins. 'At this sort of level as soon as you have possession of the ball you need to score off it.' The world champions turned a two goal deficit into a two goal advantage.