When SA found Potgeiter home alone under the post with 5mins left I really thought that would be the turning point & SA would realise their dreams! How wrong I was, but what an incredible achievement & display by South Africa.
The crowd was absolutely amazing in the arena for the morning session. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it at a netball match - a phenomenal sight & sound!
As predicted I can’t really take more than 10 steps without bumping into someone I know! That’s what’s so incredible about this Liverpool World Cup, the netball family! Even people you don’t know you get chatting to!
For me, personally, it’s been absolutely AWESOME to see so many back to Netballers in Liverpool! People who I coached at sessions back in the day, completely fell in love with playing & supporting it seems! Someone had joked I have my own #neek army: they may not be wrong!
England v New Zealand
And so we move to the afternoon where hopes were high, the buzz was all about Harten & Housby and New Zealand spoilt the party.
What more can be said than you can’t start like that against New Zealand and expect to win.
The surge when Nat Haythornthwaite came on & Harten and Housby swapped was immense & if I thought the crowd went wild in the morning it was nothing compared to just before half time! It sent shivers down my spine! Half time came too early for the Roses I think.
For me the most disappointing thing was England didn’t play well. I would have taken a loss better (ish!) had both teams been at their best - it would mean the best team won in the truest sense of the world. From Harten missing her first shot to Pitman just being in the way England just weren’t at the races. There were nothing between the teams in the stats, so imagine what we could have beaten them by! All ‘what ifs’ now though.
That’s not to take anything away from NZ though - they did a job on us and their zonal marking absolutely rankled the Roses. Hats off to Noeline Tuarua & Coaches, they did their homework good!
So it’s the 3/4 place match tomorrow - not one we wanted but I suspect it will be a few Roses last games in the red dress, so we must put our disappointment aside and cheer them on for the bronze medals.
It may well be a high point as the next few years will be a tough roller coaster ride for Roses fans - although, in my experience, when is it not!
I tell you one thing. I refuse to lose to SA tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment