England complete 3-0 series win over Trinidad and Tobago with another convincing victory
Monday 18 May 2015 12:06, UK
England produced a strong second-half display as they cruised to a 69-36 win over Trinidad and Tobago to complete a 3-0 series victory.
Tracey Neville secured her first silverware since taking charge of the national side and the hosts produced another dominant display, with Sara Bayman taking the player of the match award at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
With a series win already confirmed, a couple of changes were made to the starting line-up with Stacey Francis making her comeback from injury at GD and Pamela Cookey being utilised in a rare WA appearance.
England quickly took a grip on the game and Sonia Mkoloma clinched a smart early intercept, while Helen Housby looking composed in the shooting circle.
After a nervy start, the visitors gradually found their feet and trailed 14-8 to England at the end of the opening quarter.
Neville was forced to make a change shortly after the restart as Rachel Dunn came on for Kadeen Corbin, who was involved in a heavy collision.
The break in play failed to unsettle the ladies in red and they piled on more points to open up a 31-19 lead at half-time.
Neville continued to assess her options in the second half as she introduced Natalie Haythornthwaite at WA and brought Sasha Corbin into Centre. Cookey reverted to her more familiar role at GA.
England were impressing at both ends of the pitch with the defence continuing to stand firm, while Dunn remained a potent source of points in attack, netting from all over the circle.
Heading into the final quarter with a 51-26 cushion, Neville tried a new defensive pairing as Sam Cook joined Layla Guscoth and Francis was switched to WD.
Dunn and Cookey put the seal on another impressive victory for England, who celebrated with the trophy after the final whistle.
England continue their preparations for the Netball World Cup with a trip to Belfast for Netball Europe later this week.
Neville will include a couple of new faces as part of her selection process for the August tournament in Australia.
