England made it three from three in Pool B at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on Sunday morning with a hard-fought 55-49 win against Uganda.
The Roses were made to work hard to maintain their 100 percent record and Jo Harten admitted it was frustrating at times.
But ultimately, the shooter was delighted to get the result.
She said: “It was a little frustrating on our behalf, we knew it was gonna be a really tight tussle – we knew they were going to be a patient team with the ball, they don’t give away posession that much.
“For us, we were trying to do a bit much at both ends of the court and I think it caught up with us, but it was a good win.
“They just beat Malawi who are number six in the world so that shows their strengths – it was good to beat them.”
Uganda have climbed up through the ranks and the English Rose admitted she’s not surprised to see them amongst and challenging the world’s top teams.
She said: “I don’t think it’s surprising because they’ve got some grit and determination and they’re playing for a bit more than just the win – they’re playing for their nation, they’re playing for their pride and I think it’s pretty cool to play against teams like that because it means so much.
“It humbles you a bit because of all the facilities that I know we have.
“To see a team like Uganda come to a major world tournament and challenge number three in the world is awesome.
“It’s great for world netball in terms of there’s more of an even playing field now.
“Teams are taking some of the big ones by surprise.”
Tracey Neville made a number of changes throughout the course of the game to inject fresh impetus into England as they battled to maintain their 100 percent record.
Jo said: “That’s her decision – whatever she wants to do – whether it’s fresh legs or tactical changes.
“I think there was some good impact by some good players today.
“When Natalie Haythornthwaite came on, she really opened it up for us in attack.”
Captain Ama Agbeze added: “I don’t think it was the combination changes (that affected us), I think we lost a bit of focus.
“We got the lead quite quickly and I think people thought we are quite comfortable now.
“Uganda stepped up and came back at us – they capitalised on our mistakes.”
England face Wales in their next, and penultimate, Pool B match on Monday morning.
