England’s netballers missed out on a place in the Commonwealth Games gold-medal match after a 61-54 semi-final defeat by a powerful New Zealand side.
The Roses still have a chance of winning bronze, but fell short in their attempt to emulate their 2018 gold, while New Zealand will play either Australia or Jamaica in Sunday’s final.
New Zealand passed the ball with great speed and accuracy early on, but England rallied to settle their nerves, with goal shooter Liv Tchine drawing the match level at 3-3.
But the prowess of the Silver Ferns and their height advantage through shooter Grace Nweke was too strong as they hit double figures with eight minutes played and held a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Bringing on Eleanor Cardwell in place of Tchine towards the end of that quarter gave the Roses a lift, as they upped their intensity in the second period to close the deficit to 25-21.
After scoring 23 goals from 23 shots, Nweke missed just before half-time to leave the two-time winners leading 29-24, with hope remaining for a comeback for Anna Stembridge’s side.
England had moments of great defensive pressure, but were not as consistent at turning possession into goals, allowing the Silver Ferns to stretch the gap to nine points with 15 minutes left to play.
The damage was done by the time the Roses fought to close the gap to seven at the finish, and they will now need to lift themselves for Sunday’s bronze-medal match (09:00 BST).
In reaching the final (13:00), New Zealand will fight for Commonwealth gold for the first time since 2014, while they have not won the title since the 2010 Games.
Semi-final
Bronze medal match
Gold medal final
