Silver Ferns set up gold medal match with Jamaica
- 21 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Silver Ferns have put themselves in a guaranteed medal position after they beat England 61-54 to book a final against Jamaica.
It's the first Commonwealth Games netball final for New Zealand since 2014. They haven't won the netball gold medal since Delhi in 2010.
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The New Zealanders began well and quickly surged to a five-point lead. For the rest of the match England were playing catch-up and New Zealand were under no scoreboard pressure.
There were a few mistakes that coach Noeline Taurua will want to see eliminated against the Jamaicans, but generally the New Zealanders moved the ball about well.
Centre Kate Heffernan had a tidy game and Wendy Gordon at wing attack found plenty of holes in the England defence and was able to feed a steady supply of ball to New Zealand shooters Grace Nweke and Georgia Heffernan.
Nweke surprisingly missed five of her 57 shots, mainly taken from under the hoop. Heffernan shot nine from 10.
The New Zealand defenders, including wing defence Mila Reula-Buchanan, kept the pressure on England's shooters. England goal defence Lois Pearson was tidy but the New Zealand circle of Kelly Jackson and Kate Burger kept a tight rein on things.
Taurua used the same team throughout, except that she gave shooter Amelia Walmsley seven minutes of game time near the end. England used 11 players in an attempt to find the key to unlocking New Zealand's hold on the game.
Taurua said she was pleased her team started fast. 'They got the lead and held it. There were a few little shifts, but generally we had the momentum. It was all part of trying to build towards an overall performance. We still have something in the tank fort tomorrow.'
Jamaica upset Australia 46-45 in the other semifinal.
