England claim first major championship

England have won their first major netball tournament as they beat New Zealand 33-26 at the Liverpool Echo Arena in a rematch of last year’s final.

The hosts gave the home support plenty to cheer about as two terrific team performances brushed aside Australia in the semi finals, 27-12, and then New Zealand in the final.

Despite a disappointing run of games in the group stages, where they lost to Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, England saved the best until last in the three-day event.

Despite an all-round team effort from England, special mention must go to Eboni Beckford-Chambers and Stacey Francis for their superb defensive displays that limited the two most dangerous sides in the world. Joanne Harten, who put two double-pointers away in the final, was prolific throughout, and despite injuring her thumb she was England’s biggest attacking threat.

Harten told JMU Journalism: “If you come out slightly weaker on Friday and Saturday you can still fire on all cylinders on Sunday. It feels really good. It’s a different format and style of the game but it’s good to win against New Zealand and Australia. It was nice to score them [two double-pointers] but the team did all the hard work for me.”

New Zealand will feel aggrieved to lose their crown but cannot have any complaints after being outplayed by England. The Fastnet Ferns will have been cheered up by the news that next year’s Netball World Series will be held in Auckland.

It was a brilliant moment for John Moores student Laura Malcolm who played in her first World Series Tournament for England.

Malcolm told JMU Journalism: “It feels amazing to be world champions. We were working on things and we played when it mattered, and we won when it mattered. We’ve been working on this for months and months and it has paid off.”

Molly Rhone, IFNA President, presented the winning medals to the England side, whilst certificates and runners-up medals were handed to the umpires and New Zealand players respectively.

Jamaica missed out on third place as they lost to an Australian side that some tipped to win the competition. Jamaica will be buoyed by the announcement that their captain Nadine Bryan was named Player of the Tournament.