Jess Thirlby's team trailed 29-23 at half-time and 41-35 at three-quarter time; England pulled it back to within four goals in the final quarter but ran out of time; Australia win the gold medal after a 55-51 victory over Jamaica in the final
Sunday 7 August 2022 22:17, UK
England suffered an agonising 55-48 loss to New Zealand in the bronze medal match and leave a home Commonwealth Games empty-handed, Australia take the gold medal..
Jess Thirlby's team did not win a quarter against the Silver Ferns and failed to establish the same level of defensive dominance they had gained during the two teams' earlier pool meeting.
After trailing 41-35 going into the final 15 minutes, the home team brought the match back to a four-goal contest but were unable to get any closer.
The defeat brings about a heart-breaking end to a home competition and the careers of retiring defenders Stacey Francis-Bayman and Eboni Usoro-Brown.
Jamaica and Australia will duel for the gold medal in Sunday night's final at the NEC Arena.
England beat New Zealand at the end of the pool stage by 10 goals but delivering the same type of performance off the back of a disappointing semi-final defeat was never going to be easy.
Head coach Thirlby made two personnel changes for this winner-takes-all match, handing a start at wing defence to Laura Malcolm and opting to give Eleanor Cardwell the nod from the outset at shooter alongside Helen Housby.
Dame Noeline Taurua put her faith in Phoenix Karaka at goal defence, started Kate Heffernan at wing defence and continued to favour Tea Paea Selby-Rickit at goal attack.
In their pool stage contest, Geva Mentor got into the head of shooter Grace Nweke early on, but this time around, 20-year-old Nweke remained focused and strong for the full 60 minutes.
As a collective unit, New Zealand were stronger and cleaner in their work attack while their zone defence made life challenging for England.
The match went goal-for-goal for the first 10 minutes in front of a raucous home crowd before New Zealand edged the first quarter by a single goal.
Neither side could break each other in the opening stages of the second quarter. Then, six minutes before half-time a missed shot from England and a dropped ball in the circle enabled the Silver Ferns to go on a run of five.
With Kelly Jury taking another interception and New Zealand converting it to goal, England had work to do in the final minutes of the half.
They did so through Francis-Bayman, clearly inspired in her final professional match, but the home side still lost the quarter by five goals.
After 30 minutes, England had a 29-23 deficit to claw back and Thirlby made further changes. Malcolm moved to centre and Imogen Allison arrived at wing defence to try and raise the amount of turnover ball they gained.
Francis-Bayman and Allison did their jobs superbly and drew England back to within four goals at the halfway mark in the quarter.
England then had chances to cut the deficit further but a couple of missed shots and stickiness in their attack end prevented them from doing so.
A drawn 12-12 quarter showed England could match New Zealand, but it ultimately kept the Silver Ferns in the driving seat with 15 minutes left.
At three-quarter time, Thirlby and England's coaches asked their side to take a breath and then gave them key defensive messages, while Housby received treatment on her left leg.
Housby did not return for the final quarter, instead Jo Harten arrived at goal shooter with Cardwell moving out to goal attack. Guscoth returned at goal defence and Francis-Bayman shifted out a position. New Zealand still remained unchanged.
The Silver Ferns started the final quarter by scoring three goals without response before Harten got England off the mark.
A key turnover from Mentor with 10 minutes left got the crowd on their feet and produced a two-goal run. England pressed further to get the contest back to within four goals, however the clock wasn't on their side and New Zealand calmly kept their own scoreboard ticking.
Within the final minute Usoro-Brown arrived at goal keeper for her last seconds of elite-level netball. She received an enormous reception, showing her emotion through tears, and the tears flowed shortly after across whole the squad when the full-time whistle blew and England's defeat was confirmed.
In the gold medal match, Australia secured a fourth Commonwealth Games title after a 55-51 victory over Jamaica.
Jamaica and Australia arrived at the gold medal contest with very different levels of experience at this point in a Commonwealth Games. Jamaica had never experienced a gold medal match before, while Australia were approaching their seventh consecutive final.
The Diamonds made their move to win gold during the third quarter, having been locked at 29-29 at half-time.
Stacey Marinkovich had made a second-quarter call to change her line-up in both circles, with Sarah Klau arriving at goal keeper to give Jhaniele Fowler something else to think about and Courtney Bruce moving out to goal defence.
At the other end, Gretel Bueta was given space to roam at goal attack and Cara Koenen arrived at shooter.
The change worked well before half-time and then the Diamonds surged in the opening minutes of the second half. They scored goal after goal without reply, pushing 10-1 up, before the Sunshine Girls found their feet and responded.
The Diamonds held a six-goal cushion going into the final 15 minutes and then quelled another fightback from Connie Francis' team.
Adean Thomas had arrived in attack and made a significant difference and more turnover ball arrived in the hands of their dynamic defenders.
As a result, Jamaica went goal for goal with the Diamonds in the final quarter but they had left themselves with just too much to do.
