JAPS England v New Zealand at the O2

Spring

On Wednesday the Y6’s girls went to the O2 Arena to watch England take on New Zealand in the final match in this year’s Series. New Zealand were determined to go for the clean sweep having won the first two matches. England were equally as determined to finish with a win. After losing 42-40 in Manchester, England knew they had every chance.



As the teams were introduced on court and the National Anthems were played, the atmosphere was electric. JAPS were on the edge of their seats when umpire’s whistle started the match. New Zealand’s Goal Shooter, Irene Van Dyk is thought to be the world’s number one shooter. She rarely misses and her athleticism is incredible. She was however up against the world’s best Goal Keeper in Sonia Mkoloma. After a fantastic first half, England had a three goal lead but New Zealand were certain to fight back. With a number of tactical changes New Zealand looked like a new team stepping on court for the second half. They dominated the third and fourth quarter to take the match 40-47.



The scores for each quarter are as follows: Q1: ENG 10-9 NZ Q2: ENG 19-16 NZ Q3: ENG 29-30 NZ Q4: ENG 40-47 NZ FINAL SCORE : ENG 40-47 NZ Shooting stats for the match were as follows: ENGLAND: GS: Jo Harten (26 goals from 35 attempts = 75%) GA:Pamela Cookey (14 goals from 14 attempts 100%) NEW ZEALAND: GS: Irene Van Dyk (27 goals from 31 attempts = 87%) GA:Anna Thompson (9 goals from 13 attempts = 69%)