Netball: England seal 3-0 series win over Uganda in London
- Published
- comments
England completed a 3-0 clean sweep in their series against Uganda with a 66-37 victory at London's Copper Box.
Following narrow wins in the first two games, England made a dominant start against the world number seven side and led by 12 after the first quarter.
They finished strongly, with 20 goals in the final quarter.
England coach Tracey Neville was able to give several players important game time ahead of the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool, which begins on 12 July.
The next competition for Neville's team is in January, when they face world champions Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in a quadrangular series staged in London and Liverpool.
Neville admitted that, with the Commonwealth Games gold medal in April and a rise to second in the world, it had been the best year of her life.
"I would say probably - if I think about the moments and what we have achieved you would say you couldn't beat this - but I really want to beat this next year," the 41-year-old said.
England lost to Australia in September's Quad Series, finishing second, and came into the latest internationals off the back of a 3-0 series defeat to Jamaica after Neville elected to take a young and inexperienced side.
Neville was without Jo Harten, Geva Mentor and regular captain Ama Agbeze for this series and said: "It's about learning to win and I think the girls, overall, have shown just that."
The coach admitted the number of selection options had "given me a lot of headaches going into the World Cup".
She added: "The pleasing thing for me was the way our youngsters entered the court, the way they presented and they put their best foot forward and that's what we wanted from the series."
Mavericks' Sasha Corbin was afforded a rare full outing at wing-attack, adding speed to England's attack and Natalie Haythornthwaite once again showed her versatility as she moved into the shooting circle in the final stages, combining well with her former Wasps team-mate George Fisher.
With the impressive Layla Guscoth and Jodie Gibson both picking up injuries during the series, England under-21 captain Fran Williams also took her chance as Neville conceded the England coaching staff have had to postpone the selection date for January's Quad Series.
"I was just talking to the selectors and defensively, depending on who we are going to be coming up against, [we have options] and we have some world-class shooters that are not in the squad at the moment," she said.
"We've got three available wing attacks who are putting out some top-class performances, so there are a lot of questions that need to be answered."
England's starting seven: Dunn (GS), Housby (GA), Corbin (WA), Guthrie (C), Clarke (WD), Williams (GD), Usoro-Brown (GK)
Uganda's starting seven: Proscovia (GS), Oyella (GA), Meeme (WA), Nakachwa (C), Ajio (WD), Nanfuka (GD), Namuwaya (GK)
Quarter scores: Q1 20-8, Q2 31-20, Q3 46-29, Q4 66-37.