Netball World Cup: England beat Scotland in opener
Saturday 8 August 2015 14:31, UK
England stormed to a 60-19 win over Scotland in their opening Netball World Cup match in Sydney on Friday.
Coach Tracey Neville tested multiple combinations in the round-robin match and the side's strength of depth really showed with a dominant performance.
England, ranked third in the world, are looking to top Pool B and will face rivals Jamaica in their second match on Saturday.
Scotland, meanwhile, have targeted a victory over fellow Pool B side Samoa, but realistically their aim for the match against England was to keep the losing margin to within 40 goals.
The first quarter saw England race to a 13-5 lead, with the Thistles struggling to convert possession into goals.
In the second 15 minutes, England’s dominance continued with unforced errors starting to creep into the Scottish game.
Thistles coach Gail Parata admitted after the match that her players were nervous, saying: "I would have liked more goals on the board... we had patchy play... we went away from our game plan but at other times, we did good stuff."
England switched up their seven at half-time, but the changes did not have an effect on the Roses intensity. Rachel Dunn was impressive in the circle, shooting at 100 per cent accuracy, while veteran Sonia Mkoloma came on at goal Keeper to get a cap in her fifth consecutive Netball World Cup.
England then powered on to record their opening win on the tournament by 41 goals.
Serena Guthrie was the star performer for England, switching from her usual Wing Defence role to Wing Attack for the third quarter, while entertaining the crowds with her dynamic interceptions.
After the match, she told Sky Sports' Natalie Seaton: "For our first game there were a lot of turnovers... We hit Jamaica tomorrow and we're just not going to get away with that against such a high-scoring opposition.
"In terms of turnover rate, we're not happy with it but I think out defensive effort today was excellent."
Next up for England is a chance to exact some revenge for their Commonwealth Games bronze-medal match defeat last summer. They will play Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, live on Sky Sports 5 from 8:15am on Saturday morning.
