England got their Netball Europe title hunt off to a winning start this afternoon as they overcame a lacklustre start to seal a convincing 60-16 victory over Scotland.
This was the first match of the competition that counted towards the Netball Europe Championships following the fixtures against the invitational sides yesterday.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the Thistles who were engaging in their second match of the day having narrowly lost out to Northern Ireland earlier on.
Meanwhile, England had had almost 24 hours to recover from yesterday’s exertions. Despite this perceived advantage, the form book went completely out of the window in the opening quarter.
The ladies in red looked rusty as they failed to create smooth transition through to the attacking end. When the ball was played around the attacking circle a combination of misplaced passing and excellent Scottish pressure saw England’s error count rise.
At the end of the opening quarter, the lead was a narrow one, 9-8 to England. Never one to be afraid of mixing-up the personnel on court, Tracey Neville introduced Pamela Cookey and Tamsin Greenway for the second quarter.
They were quick to connect with their Surrey Storm colleague Rachel Dunn in the final third and England started to get on top.
With Sonia Mkoloma and Sam Cook continuing their fine defensive work, turnover ball was being converted on a regular basis and the lead was pushed out to 26-12 at the half-time break.
More changes were made for the second half as Sara Bayman and Layla Guscoth were introduced to the action.
It didn’t take long for the Manchester Thunder captain to make her impact on the game. With players being utilised in multiple positions, Bayman found herself at WD and was instrumental in an array of tips, intercepts and steals.
This allowed the attacking end to flourish, the only halt in momentum when Dunn was forced off court following a heavy tumble, Helen Housby coming on in her place.
It was one-way traffic now as Housby slotted in seamlessly. A run of eight unanswered goals in the closing minutes of the third quarter had England 41-15 ahead.
With the result all but assured, Cook was re-introduced to partner Guscoth in defence. The fact that Scotland only troubled the score board on one more occasion tells the story of just how well the young defensive pairing performed.
Scotland’s belief was draining fast and their legs were tiring as England took an even tighter grip on proceedings.
Cookey and Housby were rotating the circle excellently with Sasha Corbin making several clever feeds to find her shooters under the post.
The final quarter and the first could hardly have contrasted more. It took a while to click into gear for England today but when they connected, they looked every inch the highest ranked nation in the tournament.
However, a slow start tomorrow may have more serious repercussions as we take on reigning champions Wales in a fascinating clash.
England starting 7 v Scotland: GS – Dunn, GA – Housby, WA – Corbin, C – Butters, WD – Malcolm, GD – Mkoloma, GK – Cook
