[UPDATED] Calypso Girls out of semi-final contention

TT’s Onella Jack, left, and England’s Natalie Haythornthwaite in action during the Netball World Cup match at the M&S Bank Arena, in Liverpool, England, yesterday.
TT’s Onella Jack, left, and England’s Natalie Haythornthwaite in action during the Netball World Cup match at the M&S Bank Arena, in Liverpool, England, yesterday.

TT were eliminated from semi-final contention, at the Netball World Cup, after they were soundly beaten 72-46 by the hosts England in a preliminary round Group G match, at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool yesterday.

England continued their 100 per cent record and guaranteed a spot in the final four, while the Calypso Girls will have to compete for places fifth to 16th.

Goal-shoot Kalifa McCollin led the TT scoring with 26 goals from 29 attempts and Samantha Wallace, the goal-attack, added 20 from 22.

England were rewarded with 36 goals from 40 attempts by Joanne Harten, with Helen Housby contributing 21 from 24 and Rachel Dunn 15 from 19.

England coach Tracey Neville again elected to ring the changes, with wing attack, Natalie Haythornthwaite, being given a place in a World Cup starting seven for the very first time. TT started confidently, but some outstanding defence combined with accurate shooting meant that the Roses were soon in charge of their destiny.

TT continued to offer solid resistance, particularly in an early, second-quarter rally, but England’s further tactical changes injected a greater sense of purpose, and the Roses started to dominate the scoring exchanges, successfully closing out the match. The Calypso Girls bounced their first centre pass out beyond the sideline, allowing Harten to open the scoring, while Dunn was twice dumped on the floor in quick succession before netting England’s third goal of the game. Good work from Eboni Usoro-Brown, amongst others, allowed England to take a commanding lead, as Harten in particular found her groove in the circle.

The crowd – England were playing on the new, one-court layout for the first time in the tournament – were in buoyant mood, cheering the Roses’ every goal as the hosts extended their lead out to 20-12 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Francesca Williams came on in place of Usoro-Brown and got an early interception. However, Dunn – affected by an elbow injury – put in a couple of wayward attempts which TT seized upon, plundering the first three goals of the quarter.

TT’s Candice Guerero, left, in action during the Netball World Cup match against England in Liverpool, England, yesterday.
AP PHOTOS

Dunn, trying to shake off the injury, was replaced by Housby – a change which saw England put their foot on the gas again, taking the score back out to 29-21.

Haythornthwaite and Housby in particular were combining well, and Harten was displaying her usual accuracy in front of goal – her 30th of the game saw England 39-23 up at half time, while their defence was also gaining momentum, snuffing out the threat of Wallace as the TT goal shooter went ten minutes between goals 11 and 12.

In the second half Housby and Harten both suffered couple of rare, straightforward misses, before giving the Roses a 43-27 advantage. TT were struggling to contain the speed of England’s mid-court players with several passes going astray, but Wallace was at least now having more of an impact on the game, shooting her 15th goal.

However a careless shot on her part saw England move 17 goals ahead, as Harten and Housby put their slow start to the quarter behind them. England led 56-33 going into the last 15 minutes.

Dunn made a welcome return to court for the fourth quarter, and was soon back on the scoresheet. TT profitted from some England uncertainty to peg the score back to 60-38, with McCollin becoming the first of their shooters to reach the 20-goal mark.

Neville, who had already given Chelsea Pitman some game time at centre, continued to rotate from the bench, with Serena Guthrie returning to court as England experimented with different combinations. Some typical Guthrie interceptions were replicated by the likes of Housby and Usoro-Brown as England’s lead stretched out to beyond 25, with the home fans able to applaud their side off after an eventual 72-46 win.

In a post-match interview, TT coach Wesley “Pepe” Gomes said he was pleased with his team’s showing. “We scored more than (what) we expected to score,” he noted.

He was impressed with TT’s resilience in the second quarter.

“The second quarter was an excellent quarter (for our) defence,” Gomes said. “I’m very pleased. One of the positives is our young players, our wing-attack and our wing-defence.”

Neville said, “I actually thought we started well. It was the second quarter that we let them back in. You can’t put your team under pressure like that. We smartened up, got back into the game and won every quarter.”

Neville continued, “Today was about sharing the load. I’m glad we came out with 70-odd goals and although the performance wasn’t as clinical as we wanted, I didn’t expect that today. There are lot of things we want to smarten up.”

Today, TT will play their last Group G match against fellow strugglers Scotland at 11 am (TT time) while England will face South Africa four hours later.

According to Gomes, “If we can play anything close to this, we’ll be in good stead.”

This story was originally published with the title "Netball World Cup: England knock TT out of semis contention" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.


TT WERE eliminated from semi-final contention, at the Netball World Cup, after they were soundly beaten 72-46 by the hosts England in a preliminary round Group G match, at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool today.

England continued their 100 per cent record and guaranteed a spot in the final four, while TT will have to compete for places fifth to 16th.

Goal-shoot Kalifa McCollin led the TT scoring with 26 goals from 29 attempts and Samantha Wallace, the goal-attack, added 20 from 22.

England were rewarded with 36 goals from 40 attempts by Joanne Harten, with Helen Housby contributing 21 from 24 and Rachel Dunn 15 from 19.

England had a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 39-23 advantage at the half-time interval.

TT never posed a challenge in the third quarter, as they trailed 56-33, and the hosts eased to a comfortable victory.

In a post-match interview, England coach Tracey Neville said, “I actually thought we started well. It was the second quarter that we let them back in. You can’t put your team under pressure like that. We smartened up, got back into the game and won every quarter.”

Neville continued, “Today was about sharing the load. I’m glad we came out with 70-odd goals and although the performance wasn’t as clinical as we wanted, I didn’t expect that today. There are lot of things we want to smarten up.”

Tomorrow, TT will play their last Group G match against fellow strugglers Scotland at 11 am (TT time) while England will face South Africa four hours later.

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"[UPDATED] Calypso Girls out of semi-final contention"

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