England win by three goals in thriller as Diamonds land their fourth Quad Series title
Monday 4 November 2019 12:07, UK
England Roses produced a stunning comeback to beat South Africa but Australia walked away with the Quad Series title after they defeated New Zealand.
The tournament concluded in thrilling fashion as Tracey Neville's Roses battled back to seal a fabulous 45-42 win in their final game against the South Africa SPAR Proteas.
Neville keen to give 'opportunities'
But the Australian Diamonds secured the title in Melbourne as they defeated the Silver Ferns in another tight contest, 60-55.
Maryka Holtzhausen and Lenize Potgieter were in fine form early on for South Africa as they went into the break leading 13-10 and some clinical shooting helped them extend their advantage to a seven-goal lead by half-time at 27-20.
Ama Agbeze replaced Layla Guscoth and she soon managed to settle the English defence, combining well with Geva Mentor to record a number of intercepts and rebounds to move the Roses back within one as the third quarter finished 33-32.
The Proteas pushed out to a five-goal cushion with less than eight minutes to go before Natalie Haythornthwaite and Helen Housby took over proceedings with seven unanswered goals before closing out the contest for a second-placed finish.
Australia out-muscled their trans-Tasman neighbours to wrap up the 2018 Quad Series.
A combination of a dominant Australian defence and shooter Caitlin Bassett at her imperious best under the net helped Lisa Alexander's Diamonds to a fourth triumph in the competition.
