Diamonds withstand Thistles' challenge

The Origin Australian Diamonds have continued their stellar form in Cape Town, defeating Scotland 76-37 in the opening match of the round two fixture.

From the get-go the Diamonds were on song, and have not missed a beat since game one. But they were challenged at times by the Thistles who managed to match it with the world number ones in the second half.

Though the Diamonds had set up an unassailable lead in the first quarter with Ash Brazill setting the tone early with an intercept off one of the first plays, before player of the match Jamie-Lee Price and Courtney Bruce went hunting, combining for six gains in the opening term.

Sophie Garbin was simply too strong for the Scottish defence, and was accurate too. She and Steph Wood combined for 21 goals in the first quarter, with Garbin shooting at 100 percent (17/17).

The Aussies had set a healthy lead at the first change of ends.

Head coach Stacey Marinkovich made one change heading into the second, with skipper Liz Watson replacing Price at centre.

Injecting fresh legs into the midcourt was essential to keep up with the Thistles’ speed. Scotland’s captain Claire Maxwell was impressive as was Hannah Leighton who was feeding the ball superbly into Beth Goodwin.

Sunday Aryang came on midway through the second to replace Weston. Her combination in defence with Fever teammate Bruce is tried and tested, and was again unstoppable.

Paige Hadley was also a workhorse in the first half with 18 feeds.

Despite shaking up their defensive lineup the Thistles had no answers for Garbin who was causing big problems for the Scots. She continued to pile on the goals, putting away 38 by half-time and helping her Diamonds out to a comfortable 43-17 lead.

It was only a matter of time before Marinkovich made a few changes to the lineup. Kiera Austin and Cara Koenen were injected at the shooting end with Watson moving to wing attack.

Price returned to court at centre, Aryang shifted to wing defence, Bruce moved to goal defence and Sarah Klau joined her in goal keeper.

While the Thistles added some height to the goal circle with 194cm shooter Emma Barrie getting her first minutes on court for the match. She had no trouble finding the ball but her accuracy early hurt her, missing two of her first three attempts.

Barrie managed to tidy it up though, and found her form under the post to cause a few issues for the Aussie defenders,

The third term was a better quarter from the Thistles who managed to put the pressure on the Diamonds’ attack to only lose the quarter by four goals. It was also the first time the Aussies didn't manage to surpass 20 goals in a quarter.

But the Diamonds slick start meant they carried a 30 goal lead into the final stint.

Scotland stayed with the Aussies during the last quarter and were competitive for the entire 15 minutes. Their defence forced the Diamonds to reset a number of times in attack and their shooters started making the most of their opportunities at the other end.

But the damage was already done. The Diamonds had enough in the tank to finish the job and go through unscathed. They remain undefeated and will gear up for their fifth match against Malawi tomorrow.

Price was named player of the match for the second time with five gains, 23 feeds and 16 goal assists.