Netball: Wales sweep aside Scotland to win Nations Cup

Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Sunday, December 12, 2010 — Wales, who lost 41-48 to Scotland at the round-robin stage, came back strong in the 2010 NTUC Fairprice Foundations Nations Cup final, to sweep aside Scotland 53-30.

Wales and Scotland were on par for the first quarter. Both teams were patient with their passes, giving the defenders a hard time. However, Scotland made more unforced errors to give Wales a narrow 11-9 lead.

The second quarter saw a disastrous Scotland team. Scotland had no solution to Wales’ pressurizing defence and a poor shooting accuracy of 58% worsened the situation. On the other hand, Wales treasured their turnovers and missed only two shots to surge ahead and create a 10-point lead.

Continuing the intensity in the third quarter, Wales’ defenders gave the Scottish no chance to send the ball into their attack goal circle and it took Scotland more than seven minutes before scoring their first goal for that quarter.

Wales’ shooters did not let their defenders hard work go to waste. Goal Shooter, Rebecca James, had a perfect shooting record and scored 11 goals for the team as the Welsh extended their lead to 42-23.

Although the game was more or less over by then, the Welsh maintained their intensity. Wales’ Goal Defence, Stephanie Williams, put up a great defence and won her the team several turnovers. Scotland struggled with their composure, and made several wild passes when they were in possession of the ball. Wales eventually wrapped up the game 53-30.

“I am happy for the team. We stuck to the game plan and did the basics well. We were complacent in the round robin match against Scotland. We were not as hungry as Scotland to win that game. We knew what we needed to do but we did not execute them well. This victory is certainly a boost for the team. We knew we needed to beat Scotland and beat them well,” commented Wales’ coach Melissa Hyndman.

“We mixed up the game. They shut our attackers down more than I expected in the first half of the game,” commented Scotland’s coach Denise Holland. “We are developing a young team and we played against an experience team who is ready for the World Netball Championship. The girls came here to gain international experience which they did and I am sure we will be ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in three and a half years time.”