
The first weekend of the Vitality Netball Nations Cup came to a close in Nottingham with two tightly contested matches that saw Malawi secure a 60-45 victory over Uganda, followed by a 61-59 loss for the Vitality Roses at the hands of the South Africa SPAR Proteas.
Liv Tchine opened the scoring for England in a lively start to the game that saw plenty of defensive pressure at both ends of the court, with Vitality Roses captain Fran Williams picking up an early intercept, deflections for both Beth Cobden and Imogen Allison and a rejection of Paige Reed’s shot by Jamie van Wyk.
South Africa built an early five-goal lead, but England galvanised and through the defensive combination of Williams and Razia Quashie, continued to turn over ball to give their team the opportunity to close the deficit and Tchine brought the score to 10-10 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The next two quarters saw clinical goal-for-goal play from both teams, with neither side able to break the other’s flow, and keeping Vitality Roses fans in the Motorpoint Arena on the edge of their seats. This goal-for-goal play continued until a centre pass not received in the centre third from South Africa gave the Vitality Roses an opportunity to open a narrow lead. England responded in style with Allison finding Tchine with confidence via a long ball from the centre third to the shooting circle.
A call against Allison for delaying play was quickly won back by Williams, before England lost possession of their centre pass, allowing South Africa to bring the scores back level and there was nothing to separate the two teams as they headed into the last quarter break equal at 46-46.
South Africa were the first team to gain an advantage in the final quarter, taking a 52-49 lead which they were able to extend to 49-55 with continued defensive pressure preventing England from scoring. An offensive contact was called against Liv Tchine and South Africa continued to grow their lead.
In the final minutes of the game Funmi Fadoju flew through the court to intercept the ball which, along with a held ball in the South African shooting end, allowed England to claw a couple of goals back, but it wasn’t enough to take the win, with the score remaining at 61-59 at the final whistle.
Vitality Roses starting seven: Razia Quashie (GK), Fran Williams (GD), Beth Cobden (WD), Imogen Allison (C), Jess Shaw (WA), Paige Reed (GA), Liv Tchine (GS)
South Africa starting seven: Sanmarie Visser (GK), Jamie van Wyk (GD), Tarle Mathe (WD), Refiloe Nketsa (C), Khanyisa Chawane (WA), Kamogelo Maseko (GA), Elmeré van der Berg (GS)