Singapore go down to Scotland 28-33 in Netball Nations Cup

Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Pictures by REDintern Thomas Tan and Xaveria Mo/Red Sports.

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 – In a nerve-racking encounter, Singapore fell to Scotland 28-33 in Day 3 of the Netball Nations Cup. The hosts had failed to hold off a last quarter surge by Scotland, and now have two losses out of three games played.

Singapore met Scotland earlier this year during a training tour. Then, Scotland edged past Singapore 46-31 and 51-39. However, Singapore came back strong, looking forward to notch a win against their opponents in front of their home fans. However, Scotland proved the stronger of the two, continuing their winning streak.

The first quarter saw Scotland score the first goal when they converted Singapore’s opening centre pass after a mid-court interception. Scotland took a brief lead, but it did not stay long as good movements from Singapore shooters Rachel Yim (GS) and Tan Hui Yan (GA), coupled with accurate runs from the mid-fielders, helped Singapore to win the quarter 10-7.

In the second quarter, Grace Sim replaced Pearline Chan, stepping up to Centre position. The adjusted attacking line-up however, had a hard time penetrating Scotland’s defence in the goal third. Although Singapore’s defenders worked hard to provide more shooting opportunities, the failure to penetrate the goal third cost Singapore to lose the lead and go into half-time with the game tied at 17-17.

In the third quarter, Pearline Chan came back to take the Centre position and Li Ling replaced Tan Hui Yan as the Goal Attack. From the start, Scotland applied tight defending on Singapore, giving the host little chance to score. Scotland soon surged ahead to lead 22-19.

However, Singapore soon found their solution to Scotland’s defence. They scored six consecutive goals to snatch the lead at 25-22. But the lead was short-lived as unforced errors from Singapore in the final minutes of third quarter gave Scotland valuable turnovers which they converted to level the score once again at 26-26.

The final quarter started off slowly. It was nearly four minutes before the first goal of the quarter was scored by Singapore. Scotland only managed to reply with slightly more than eight minutes left on the clock with a goal of their own. Scotland started to read the game better, forcing Singapore to make many turnovers. Scotland stepped up play and eventually finished strongly, taking the game 33-28.

“The team was rusty in the first match but we are definitely getting better,” said Singapore’s coach Jill McIntosh after the match. “Defensively the players are getting better and in attack, we have the confidence to let the ball go. It is a relatively new team and each time they get out there, they will keep improving.”

“It was just a hard-fought tight match and it was a wonderful game,” added Jill. “A couple of turnovers and a couple of missed shots in the end was the turning point. In close matches like these, that is all it takes. I am extremely proud of my players because they fought all the way till the end and they could have won the match!”

With this loss, Singapore will need to win their remaining two matches in order to qualify for the semi-final. Singapore will be taking on Northern Ireland, who have a perfect record on Wednesday, 9 December at 6pm and the untested Tanzania team on Friday, 11 December at 8pm.