The heartbroken Diamonds have recaptured their devastating best to demolish England 68-50 for bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
While bronze is far from adequate consolation, Australia at least avoid the horror of missing the podium in Glasgow after their nightmare 46-45 semi-final loss to Jamaica.
Having dominated world netball since playing the first-ever international against New Zealand in 1938, this year’s third-place finish is Australia’s worst-ever result at the Games.
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It is the first time the world No.1 Diamonds have failed to reach the gold medal match since the sport joined the Games program in 1998.
Bitter rivals New Zealand will vie to end their 16-year gold medal drought, while Jamaica are hunting a maiden title after finishing runners-up at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Goal shooter Sophie Garbin (46 goals/50 attempts) made amends for a shocking one-quarter outing against Jamaica’s Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, while Sophie Dwyer went unused on the bench.
Dwyer had a chance to push the semi-final game against the Sunshine Girls to overtime, but her after-the-siren shot bounced off the ring and missed.
Goal shooter Cara Koenen was also left on the bench after her heroics against Jamaica, alongside defenders Matilda Garrett and Sarah Klau.
Goal attack Kiera Austin also rarely missed a beat against the Roses, shooting 22 goals from 24 attempts.
England looked poised to cause further trouble for Australia after building a two-goal lead in a tight opening tussle.
But it was a false dawn for the Roses, and centre Kate Moloney upped the ante with wing attack Liz Watson to help Australia pull away 19-11 at the first break.
Rediscovering their groove, the Diamonds punished England’s unforced errors to fire off two four-goal bursts as they soared to a 35-24 halftime lead en route to victory.
Eleanor Cardwell joined the fray in the third quarter to thunderous applause from the near-capacity crowd at the Hydro, but the star Roses shooter couldn’t inspire a comeback.
It was the second time Australia had bulldozed England in Glasgow, after soaring to a 66-47 triumph in the pool stage.
