intosport.com – the blog » intosport.com at the World Netball Series in Manchester

intosport.com at the World Netball Series in Manchester

Jo Harten shooting England to the top of the table

intosport.com at the World Netball Series in Manchester

So we’ve had a busy few days up at the World Netball Series which saw the England netball team adapting most quickly to the new Fast Net rules as they finished unbeaten and top of the table on Saturday. We saw some impressive shooting from England’s Jo Harten, particularly against Australia and history was also made by Rachel Dunn as she scored the first ever four point goal.

TEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST GOALS FOR GOALS AGAINST POINTS

ENGLAND 5 5 0 0 145 102 10

AUSTRALIA 5 4 0 1 174 119 8

NEW ZEALAND 5 3 0 2 141 113 6

JAMAICA 5 2 0 3 138 142 4

MALAWI 5 1 0 4 121 137 2

SAMOA 5 0 0 5 86 170 0

However, despite their dominance, Sunday’s final day was not a good day for England as they were beaten by an excellent power play display from Jamaica, as Goal Shooter Romelda Aiken shot Jamaica into an insurmountable 21 – 9 lead after the second quarter. Interestingly both teams took their power play in the same quarter this showed its importance the new rules, and ability of the Fast Net rules to completely change the dynamic of a game in the space of just 6 minutes. Ultimately England were unable to recover and eventually lost 33 – 22, despite passionate encouragement from the crowd, and several attempts, many successful, at shots from outside the circle. Those that went in seemed worthwhile, but those that missed inevitably conceded possession and so incurred the double punishment as Jamaica inevitably moved the ball down court to the towering Aiken to shoot and score. The result left the Jamaican’s jubilant and looking forward to a final against either Australia or New Zealand.

Australia versus New Zealand was also fiercely contested, with New Zealand running out eventual winners 27 – 17. This set up an exciting final that didn’t look likely at the end of Saturday. However, both teams were in form and produced a close final that ended 32 – 27 in favour of New Zealand. Despite England not making it to the final the crowd were in good voice and the event was received well by everyone we spoke to. Judging by the noise inside the MEN arena on Finals Day this is a format of the game we will be seeing more of. Here’s to more success for Fast Net – it’s definitely given netball a refreshed appeal as a spectator sport and, we suspect, it’s probably an exciting variation of the game for coaches and players to get to grips with.

Jo Harten shooting England to the top of the table (Photo: Matt McQuillan)

World Netball Series Table
However, despite their dominance, Sunday’s final day was not a good day for England as they were beaten by an excellent power play display from Jamaica, as Goal Shooter Romelda Aiken shot Jamaica into an insurmountable 21 – 9 lead after the second quarter. Interestingly both teams took their power play in the same quarter this showed its importance the new rules, and ability of the Fast Net rules to completely change the dynamic of a game in the space of just 6 minutes. Ultimately England were unable to recover and eventually lost 33 – 22, despite passionate encouragement from the crowd, and several attempts, many successful, at shots from outside the circle. Those that went in seemed worthwhile, but those that missed inevitably conceded possession and so incurred the double punishment as Jamaica moved the ball down court to the towering Aiken to shoot and score. The result left the Jamaican’s jubilant and looking forward to a final against either Australia or New Zealand.

Jamaica's Romelda Aiken dominating in the air (Photo: Matt McQuillan)

Australia versus New Zealand was also fiercely contested, with New Zealand running out eventual winners 27 – 17. This set up an exciting final that hadn’t look likely at the end of Saturday. However, both teams were in form and produced a close final that ended 32 – 27 in favour of New Zealand. Despite England not making it to the final the crowd were in good voice and the event was received well by everyone we spoke to. Judging by the noise inside the MEN arena on Finals Day this is a format of the game we will be seeing more of. Here’s to more success for Fast Net – it’s definitely given netball a refreshed appeal as a spectator sport and, we suspect, it’s probably an exciting variation of the game for coaches and players to get to grips with.