England U17 beat Wales to be fingertips away from Championship title

England provided another dominant performance as they took an early lead against Wales. Similar to their display against the UAE earlier in the morning, England was confident on the ball and closing down spaces well, leading by thirteen-plus points into the second quarter.
The match saw the two big guns of European netball face each other at the Tercentenary Sports Hall.

At 26-13 with ten minutes of the second quarter still left, the pause to dry the floor was a welcome breather for Wales. Although putting in a strong performance, the clinical finishing and passing from England drove them further into the lead.

The England Under 17s were proving to be head and shoulders above their competitors in this competition and looked as the favorites to take the title. With Wales battling to get at least a point from the match, if they could score half as many points as their opponents, only Scotland could challenge England for the Championship title.

Wales did not disappoint with their own battle. Some great turnovers saw them go to 33-18 and closing the gap, even though the match looked far from their reach already. The fast-paced match, similar to most other matches played this weekend, saw players cautioned, highlighting how netball was far from the contactless game many still imagined.

England reached the forty-point mark before halftime, going into the break with a 41-18 lead. The second half saw more of the same, with England reaching their sixty-point mark within the final minutes of the third quarter, leading 62-25 entering the fourth quarter.

Wales had to secure points to walk away with something as England continued to add to their tally. At 66-26 with twelve minutes left, it was an uphill struggle for Wales to change the momentum and gather enough points to at least score half of England’s tally. Wales did not add to their tally until England had reached the 68 points, far from their objective.

Some great movement and vision in passing saw England hit the seventy mark comfortably. The transitions between defense and attack by England, with swift passing and movement into wide spaces, took England towards an eighty score margin. With just three minutes left, they needed just three points to reach eighty, while Wales remained stuck in the lower thirties.

Even with a substantial points gap, England battled for every ball, even the seemingly lost causes. England finished with a 79-34 victory, with just Scotland in their way to stop them from taking the title.