Glasgow 2014: England lose bronze match to Jamaica
- Published
England missed out on a netball medal at Glasgow 2014 after losing 52-48 in their bronze match against Jamaica.
Anna Mayes' England had to recover quickly from Saturday's one-point semi-final defeat by New Zealand, but found themselves 25-24 behind at half-time.
An enthralling third quarter finished with the scores level but Jamaica pulled ahead in the dying minutes and held on for the victory.
Australia claimed gold with a dominant 58-40 win over New Zealand.
The Diamonds have now won three Commonwealth titles - following on from successes in 1998 and 2002.
England looked despondent after their agonising late defeat against 2010 champions New Zealand, but had to pick themselves up to face the Jamaicans - in a replay of the Delhi bronze medal match.
Mayes' team made a quick start by turning over the first centre, and they went in 13-11 ahead after the first quarter.
But by the end of the first half, the lead had changed six times and it was Jamaica with the one-point advantage - thanks to a magnificent performance from 6ft 5in shooter Romelda Aiken.
The third quarter was a breathless end-to-end affair which ended 37-37, and England's attack of Joanne Harten and Kadeen Corbin looked unstoppable.
But as Jamaica crept ahead, England were unable to find the illusive turnover and Aiken kept her cool under the posts to secure Jamaica a medal - their first in the event since the 2002 Games in Manchester.
England netball at the Commonwealth Games | |
---|---|
Kuala Lumpur 1998: Bronze | Delhi 2010: Bronze |
Manchester 2002: Fourth | Glasgow 2014: Fourth |
Melbourne 2006: Bronze |
Mayes told BBC Sport after the final whistle: "We are absolutely gutted. I think the girls are better than the performance they put out today.
"It was a hard task to recover from the match against New Zealand and unfortunately we didn't play to our best, but credit to Jamaica.
"We will look closely at where we lost possession. I think we had opportunities to take the game and have to be more clinical, but the girls have given everything."
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