Australian Diamonds vs England Roses first netball Test live updates — blog and scores

Every single one of the Roses game-day squad has got minutes on court. Look at the difference in the substitution list between the teams! England trying to spark momentum with fresh legs and Australia mostly backing in their starting players.

Austin misses her first shot at goal coming back from the break.

Then Watson drops it cold. An uncharacteristic move from the skipper two minutes into the final quarter as the umpire calls a replay and England close the gap to five.

SCORE: 52-47

Heading out for the final quarter we hear from Liz Watson in the Australian huddle.

“Guys we’re playing here like we’re trying to protect the lead but we’re in control.”

Interesting, it seems the Diamonds may be a little rattled.

Is momentum turning here?

The Roses go three in a row as Tchine slots another.

There was a mistake from the umpire, who ruled it as an England throw-in on the baseline, even though the ball came off Fadoju last. But you make your own luck in netball and the Roses are running with it. 

Australia manage to convert their next centre pass and England follow suit. That means they’ve now scored four of the last five goals to round out this third quarter.

The margin got out to as many as 13 goals in this quarter but now the game is back within eight goals. Can the Diamonds get back to their typical clinical play for the last 15 minutes or will the Roses come from behind to upset the hosts?

More stagnancy in attack from the Roses. That’s their second held ball call for the game, with three seconds ticking over.

The good news (if you’re a Roses fan) is Sophie Garbin has missed her first attempt at goal, Williams is on the rebound and the Roses do eventually finish what they started in this passage of play with a goal.

SCORE: Australia lead 51-41

Adelaide Thunderbirds defender Matilda Garrett enjoys the home crowd support as she is given a warm greeting by fans, entering the court just after the eight-minute mark at GD.

It’s Australia’s first change in personnel this match and this is the 26-year-old’s fourth international cap.

Fran Williams, Imogen Allison and Funmi Fadoju each get a touch on the ball respectively as they combine midway through the third quarter to win back some possession. England convert their efforts.

SCORE: Australia lead 45-34

Well something needed to change and it’s come in the form of substitutions. Heading out for the third quarter the Roses are trialling their fourth shooter for the game.

Injecting Olivia Tchine into the GS bib, shifting Housby back to GA and Pearson to WA. Cardwell remains on the bench.

Fran Williams is back on court, this time at GK.

They’ve also made some midcourt, pushing Imogen Allison to WD and giving Amy Carter a run at C in her first place. It is Tchine and Carter’s first minutes in the game.

Champion Data’s important numbers to note at the main break.

Here, we can see the Diamonds are winning double the amount of ball in defence as the Roses and the majority of it is clean ball through intercepts. Of the many list of things England needs to fix for this upcoming second half is their penalty count. They will need to adjust to ensure they can stay in play and contribute to the game. As well as aiming to treasure the ball and lower their turnovers.

Not pictured here is the shooting accuracy. It’s pretty similar so far, with the Aussies at 98 per cent and England at 97. Neither Sophie Garbin, Helen Housby or Eleanor Cardwell have missed a shot.

Once again Kiera Austin is the last to score in the quarter, as the Diamonds head to the half-time break in front by 11 goals. 

England are going to need to find a bit of inspiration, because right now the contest is not living up to the hype of 1 vs 3 in the world. The Diamonds have been super clinical and their defence continues to make the visitors think.

As exciting as it is to see Lois Pearson on court, it is not good news that a player of the calibre of Eleanor Cardwell – one of their most experienced shooters – is on the bench. Perhaps the England coach made the call because the Roses kept fumbling the feed, but it felt like the problem was actually in the midcourt in front of her. Not in the circle.

Tell us, what would you do at half-time if you were Jess Thirlby?

Argh, bit of a coach killer from England.

To be fair, World Netball’s rules around the short pass have changed this year and are a bit ambiguous – now you have to allow room for a defender to contest the pass, whereas it used to be just a hand. How big a defender is, is I guess, up for interpretation …

Either way, it’s another mistake for the Roses that they really can’t afford to cough up. Australia capitalise with another goal.

SCORE: Australia lead 35-26

England have made their first substitution during live play with about four minutes left until half time.

It’s the player we were hoping to see, as Funmi Fadoju makes her way onto court and replaces Williams at goal defence.

SCORE: Australia lead 33-22

Five and a half minutes gone in this second quarter and the debutant Lois Pearson gets a real taste of what it means to play at this level. She’s on the board!

Fun fact … I’ve just realised her birthday is actually tomorrow, September 20 (same as me, yay!).

Lois will turn 25. If she can put on a good performance here, that’ll be a nice way to start her special day.

SCORE: 23 – 17

The Diamonds get on a roll to open their account in this second quarter. Just over two minutes gone and they’ve made it three in a row after a missed shot from Pearson and a great intercept from Diamonds goal keeper Sarah Klau.

SCORE: Australia lead 20-13

After a slow start head coach Jess Thirlby has given the nod to her young shooter to debut. She replaces Housby in goal attack to start the second quarter, while Housby takes Cardwell’s goal shooter bib as ‘the claw’ heads to the bench.

Love these thoughts shared by Gary! Funmi Fadoju would have to be one of the very best defenders England currently has to offer. Has serious hops and a great aerial game. But the Roses never seem to want to back her in at starting goal keeper because of her lack of height at 1.76m … And it’s hard to give anyone a start in front of goal defence Fran Williams right now given her red-hot form.

Kiera Austin from distance! Stunning shot from the Diamonds goal attack to add one more to the Aussie tally before the first break.

She’s been in electric form for the Melbourne Vixens this year and put up plenty of two-point super shots from range, so it’s no surprise really! But still fun to watch. The home team are in front by five goals and England have some serious issues to sort in attack.

Now it’s Australia’s turn to make a mistake. With two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Aussie captain Liz Watson has been called for a held ball in the right pocket. She couldn’t sight the Australian shooters in time.

England convert in transition and then their next centre pass to bring the game back within two goals.

SCORE: Australia lead 13-11

The game had been going goal for goal to start but now we’re midway through this first quarter and a couple of fumbles on the feed has seen the Diamonds capitalise.

Goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell gave away a replay within the shooting circle but to be fair she hasn’t had many great feeds coming her way. England will need to clean this up. You can see they are clearly missing captain and wing attack Nat Metcalf.

SCORE: Australia lead 10-7

Five minutes gone in the first quarter and England goal keeper Razia Quashie has been working overtime to get in the contest.

Driving along the baseline, Quashie had a couple of deflections before she got two hands to it, but the umpire rules it’s Diamonds ball. We know former Diamond Sharni Norder has crossed over to the dark side to take on the role of specialist defensive coach with the Roses this series.

How much will her wisdom help?

SCORE: Australia lead 6-5