Diamonds on top

by

By Aimee Dawson

 

The Australian Diamonds are sitting steady on top of their pool ladder, after a solid second-day win over Barbados.

The Diamonds were victors in their high scoring affair, defeating Barbados 83 – 16.

After their shaky start in yesterday’s match, the Diamonds were fast out of the blocks, scoring six goals before Barbados scored their first.

Renae Hallinan was dominant for Australia in the first quarter, and instrumental in keeping their opponents to just three goals for the quarter.

The Diamonds continued their run into the second quarter and it took six minutes for Barbados to score their first goal for the quarter.

With three minutes left in the first half, the Diamonds edged out to a 30-goal lead, and led by 31 at half-time, 38 – seven.

The Australians again made massive changes to their team at the main break, with all players except for their captain, Laura Geitz, changing positions on court.

The players took little time to adjust to however, with the margin continuing to edge out to 50 at the three-quarter time break.

A tired and fatigued Barbados fought hard in the final quarter, however were unable to keep up with the Diamonds’ speed and experience at the international level.

The shining lights for Barbados in the final quarter however were their two shooters, Sheniqua Thomas and Shonica Wharton, who are 17 and 19 years old respectively, pairing up in the goal circle to showcase the future of netball in Barbados.

Australia ran out convincing winners by 67 goals, sending them to the top of the Pool A ladder.

Defender Julie Corletto was the only player for the Diamonds to not take the court in the win, with the coaches opting to rest her for the match.

The Diamonds now face their biggest challenge of the competition on Sunday, playing against arch-rivals, the New Zealand Silver Ferns, in the match for top-spot in their pool.

Day 2 Scores

Uganda, 61 defeat Fiji, 40

New Zealand, 74 defeat Trinidad and Tobago, 38

Scotland, 47 defeat Samoa, 36

South Africa, 69 defeat Singapore, 21

England, 54 defeat Jamaica, 50

Malawi, 101 defeat Sri Lanka, 18

 

Standings

Pool A

  1. Australia, 2 wins
  2. New Zealand, 2 wins
  3. Trinidad and Tobago, 0 wins
  4. Barbados, 0 wins

Pool B

  1. England, 2 wins
  2. Jamaica, 1 win
  3. Scotland, 1 win
  4. Samoa, 0 wins

Pool C

  1. Malawi, 2 wins
  2. South Africa, 1 win
  3. Singapore, 1 win
  4. Sri Lanka, 0 wins

Pool D

  1. Uganda, 2 wins
  2. Wales, 1 win
  3. Fiji, 0 wins
  4. Zambia, 0 wins