England made it two wins from two with a hard-fought victory over Malawi, their 100th in World Cup history.
Player of the Match Helen Housby maintained her 100% record under the post as England shook off a nervy first quarter to stay top of their pool.
Vitality Roses starting seven: Funmi Fadoju (GK), Francesca Williams (GD), Imogen Allison (WD), Laura Malcolm (C), Natalie Metcalf (WA), Helen Housby (GA), Eleanor Cardwell (GS)
Substitutes: Jade Clarke, Layla Guscoth, Geva Mentor, Chelsea Pitman, Olivia Tchine
Malawi starting seven: Loreen Ngwira (GK), Towera Vinkhumbo (GD), Grace Mwafulirwa (WD), Takondwa Lwazi (C), Thandie Galleta (WA), Jane Chimaliro (GA), Joyce Mvula (GS)
Substitutes: Shabel Bengo, Martha Dambo, Mwai Kumwenda, Madalitso Mkandawire, Sindi Simtowe
Quarter One
Head Coach Jess Thirlby made three changes to the side that won against Barbados, bringing in Funmi Fadoju, Fran Williams and Laura Malcolm for their first World Cup starts. Both sides started shakily, throwing away the ball and making a number of unforced errors throughout the first quarter. Malawi’s centre Takondwa Lwazi moved around the middle of the court relentlessly and helped her side take a two-goal lead midway through the quarter. But her side began to get complacent and allowed England to come back and take a 12-10 advantage going into the first break.
Quarter Two
Geva Mentor and Layla Guscoth came on to solidify the England defence as Funmi Fadoju made way after going down a couple of minutes into the second quarter. Imogen Allison swapped places with Laura Malcolm in the middle of the court, a move which helped to thwart the danger of Lwazi as the Malawi Queen’s momentum was halted. Helen Housby and Eleanor Cardwell began to find more connections with the midcourt and were sharp under the post, converting all of their attempts in the first half as they pushed the Vitality Roses into a nine-goal lead.
Quarter Three
Just a couple minutes into the second half, Malawi were dealt a blow as Lwazi was forced off after going down by the sideline. England capitalised as Chelsea Pitman combined well with Cardwell who was began to command the circle. The Malawi centre quickly recovered and returned on court along with Funmi Fadoju who formed a strong defensive unit with Mentor and Guscoth. As the end of the third quarter neared, Housby and Cardwell rotated in and out the circle, causing problems for their opponents as they were heavily penalised. A strong 19-9 quarter gave the Vitality Roses a comfortable lead going into the final 15 minutes.
Quarter Four
Jade Clarke came on for her first minutes of the game, replacing Allison whilst Cardwell and Housby took a deserved rest in place of Nat Metcalf and Olivia Tchine. Pitman, who impressed Jess Thirlby with her second-half display against Barbados yesterday, put in another great shift and helped to instil confidence into Tchine in the circle. She scored an impressive 12/13 as England’s three shooters all shot above 90% with Housby finishing on 100% for a second consecutive game. A disciplined final quarter saw the Vitality Roses see out the game 62-39 and move two points clear at the top of Pool B.
Player of the Match: Helen Housby
Head Coach Jess Thirlby commented after the game: “I think there was a few rushes of blood to the head early on in the game.
“The front of games is something that we want to get better at. There wasn't really anything there to surprise us. The link between Joyce [Mvula] and her attacking players was brilliant and I think we could have maybe capitalized off that a little bit earlier in the game. But I was really impressed with the injection of Layla [Guscoth] and Funmi [Fadoju] coming back onto court after leaving. I thought she was excellent, more herself and more involved in the game. Helen [Housby] in particular, I thought, did a really fantastic job moving through the game at getting on the front and it really opened up well.
Reflecting on the win, and looking ahead to the final game, Geva Mentor added: “We're two games down now and we want to make sure we have fresh bodies as we get to the tail end of the tournament.
“The unusual thing is, although Scotland are so close to us, we don't actually play them that much, whilst many play with them in the Netball Super League. For us, it's about building on what we need to do, working on those combinations, making sure we're recovering well with the game a little bit earlier in the day.”
All of the games from the Netball World Cup are being shown live on Sky Sports, with one match per day available to all on Sky Sports YouTube. The BBC will have live coverage of matches from Monday 31 July up to and including the final across BBC Television, iPlayer, Sounds and the BBC Sport website.
The Vitality Roses will play their final pool game of Preliminary Stage One tomorrow at 3pm (UK time), live on Sky Sports Arena, Mix and YouTube.
You can watch the highlights from this match here: https://youtu.be/RSbQqtODNoI
