The Vitality Roses started their Netball Quad Series, as part of the Vitality Netball International Series, campaign with Eleanor Cardwell (GS), Helen Housby (GA), Natalie Metcalf (née Haythornthwaite) (WA), captain Serena Guthrie (C), Beth Cobden (WD), Layla Guscoth (GD) and Geva Mentor (GK).
Head Coach Jess Thirlby and Assistant Coach Sonia Mkoloma got all 12 players out on court as England recorded the biggest win in Quad Series history, a title previously held by New Zealand’s Silver Ferns since 2017.
It was also a milestone occasion for Geva Mentor, notching up her 150th cap for England having made her debut at the age of just 16 in 2001.
The Vitality Roses got off to a flying start against South Africa in the first quarter with Eleanor Cardwell opening the scoring.
Captain Serena Guthrie’s presence and pressure in the centre of the court caused trouble for the SPAR Proteas, making it difficult for them to find players in space and some pinpoint long-range passes by the Roses captain set up the Roses attack beautifully.
After a highly successful 2021, winning the Vitality Netball Superleague title with Loughborough Lightning and the Vitality Player of the Season award, Beth Cobden picked up where she left off, making a number of intercepts to win the ball back and set England on their way to an early lead.
The SPAR Proteas began to find more of a rhythm towards the end of the first quarter as a few unforced errors started to creep into the Vitality Roses’ game.
Dorette Badenhorst’s side capitalised on some impressive feeds by Izette Griesel and started to close the gap, but it was still the Vitality Roses with a narrow 16-13 lead at the end of the first 15 minutes.
Thirlby made a change for England going into the second quarter with Eleanor Cardwell being replaced by George Fisher, who was quickly up and running on the scoresheet thanks to some pinpoint feeds from Natalie Metcalf.
South Africa looked much more confident in the first few minutes of the second quarter and were moving the ball well; however, they struggled to break through the defensive duo of Mentor and Layla Guscoth.
At the other end of the court, the Metcalf, Guthrie and Georgina Fisher combination worked extremely effectively with fast ball movement as the Vitality Roses pushed out to establish a 13-goal cushion at half time (37-24).
Thirlby and Mkoloma made more changes for the second half, with Eboni Usoro-Brown making an appearance coming on in place of Mentor.South Africa moved the ball around the circle well with some great passing by Lefebre Rademan and Sigrid Burger, but with some strong defensive pressure by Usoro-Brown and great tracking by Guscoth, they found it hard to make an impact on the scoresheet.
There were no signs of the Vitality Roses attack slowing down, meanwhile, as Fisher and Helen Housby continued to make their mark with some great takes and accurate shooting in the circle.
With two minutes to go, Thirlby looked to the bench once again and brought on Sophie Drakeford-Lewis in place of Guthrie with Imogen Allison also coming on in place of Helen Housby.
The Vitality Roses entered the fourth quarter continuing their strong passing display but the SPAR Proteas also looked positive, with some brilliant passing by Sigrid Burger and Chawane Khanyisa using the width of the court well.
Despite their valiant attempts to penetrate the Roses defence, the SPARProteas couldn't quite make the impact at the post they were hoping for.
The quick outlets from Usoro-Brown and Mentor helped to set up the Roses attack with some great movement by Drakeford-Lewis stretching the Proteas out of position and opening up space for Fisher and Cardwell to extend the Roses lead.
After a brilliant performance throughout the match, Layla Guscoth was awarded player of the match as the Vitality Roses ended the action with the biggest win in the Vitality Netball Quad series to date, the match ending 71 - 47 to the Vitality Roses.
