By Amellia Wood
The Australian Diamonds will compete for gold in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games medal match after an exhilarating win against England in the semi final.
It was the enthralling contest everyone was hoping for as Australia and England faced off in a Gold Coast 2018 rematch to determine who would meet Jamaica in the gold medal match.
With home team fans piling in the stands, the noise emitted from the match was so loud that Australians watching back home could hear it.
The Diamonds started with the same lineup seen in the Jamaica loss days prior with Courtney Bruce, Jo Weston, Ash Brazill, Kate Moloney, Gretel Bueta, vice captain Steph Wood and captain Liz Watson on display.
With the likes of Commonwealth Games veteran Geva Mentor and other Suncorp Super Netball players including Helen Housby and Jo Harten, the task on hand for the Diamonds was not going to be simple.
The Diamonds were challenged by a star-studded Roses. A turnover from England’s centre pass saw Australia get the first goal of the match and set the tone.
England’s defence looked like a tight unit and forced Bueta and Wood to reposition themselves to receive the ball.
An unexpected spectacle grabbed everyone’s attending in the first minutes of the game with Layla Guscoth colliding with the goal post in a splits fashion, subsequently bending the goal post out of shape.
A quick post change and the two sides were back in it. Wood’s vision into Bueta was pure strategy, while Brazill was sticking to England captain Nat Metcalf like butter on bread.
Australia led by three goals heading into the second quarter, 12-15, and made no changes to the lineup. Meanwhile, England shuffled and continued to roll subs throughout the quarter.
Defensive efforts from Bruce, who celebrated her 50th international test cap, and Weston grew across the progression of the match. This resulted in England starting to panic with a Jo Harten held ball and struggle to feed into goalers.
A half time score of 23-29, Australia’s way, swift movement in the Diamonds attack kept the lead throughout as the team took first options to pass with quick wit.
The Diamonds took a six-goal lead into half time.Despite being double marked, Bueta dominated the circle, as demonstrated across early rounds.
Nine goals the difference at the beginning of the final quarter, head coach Stacey Marinkovich stayed true to her selected starting seven to carry the same margin through to the end, 51-60 the final score.
Watson finished with a mammoth 46 goal assists, Bruce had five deflections and the goaling duo of Wood and Bueta managed 94% goaling accuracy.
At times where Australia could have become flustered, they instead brought it back, calmed it down and took control to play their brand.
The Diamonds now turn their attention to the gold medal match against Jamaica to be played early Monday morning.
