England complete sweep to defend title

England have retained the Netball Europe Open title by completing a clean sweep of the home nations with a 60-30 win over Scotland.

A slow start but England stoked up the engine to deliver a comprehensive defence of their Netball Europe Open title with a 60-30 victory over Scotland in Cardiff. Wales finished second with the Scots third ahead of Northern Ireland.

England started their final match with more purpose than they had shown in the other two. Vicklyn Joseph had her eye in, during her one and only quarter on court. The eight-from-eight helped England outscore their hesitant opponents two to one in that 15 minutes, and ultimately in the game. It was a good opening session with the team machine finally purring after spluttering a bit in the first two games.

It got even better in the second period, won 17-2 by England. Joseph made way for Harten whose place at GA was filled by Asha Tett, Katy Rose took over at WA. The defence was outstanding, doubling up possession and shooting opportunities for the team with tips and turnovers aplenty. Scotland’s shooters were starving, forced to survive on just four or five attempts, while Harten and Tett gorged themselves with 17 goals from 21.

Quarter three and another change for England with Camilla Buchanan on at C. The Scots upped their game, no doubt after a few rousing comments from coach Denise Holland, and contested the quarter more than they had managed in the second. But England kept hold of their advantage, despite allowing their opponents to lift their heads, and kicked on for 14-10 win in that 15 minutes.

In the final period of play there were defensive changes for England, Buchanan moved to WD and Lindsay Keable stuck on the GK bib. It was another highly accurate session for the shooters as 17 from 18 were put up and put in. Ball began to flow more smoothly through the court, and after a solid start England finished strong.

QUARTER SCORES
Q1: 12-6
Q2: 29-8 (17-2)
Q3: 43-18 (14-10)
Q4: 60-30 (17-12)

England line-up:

GS: Vicklyn Joseph Q1: 8/8
GA: Jo Harten Q1: 4/5 Q2: 12/15 Q3: 7/8 Q4: 12/13
WA: Asha Tett
C: Sascha Corbin
WD: Serena Guthrie
GD: Stacie Francis
GK: Eboni Beckford-Chambers

Subs:

Q2: Jo Harten to GS, Asha Tett to GA, Katy Rose to WA
Q3: Camilla Buchanan to C, Serena Guthrie to WD
Q4:Sascha Corbin to C, Camilla Buchanan to WD, Lindsay Keable to GK

http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/news/Current_News.php?articleId=1000

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England complete sweep to defend title

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