Tom Henigan
The Vitality Roses opened their 2025 Vitality Netball Nations Cup campaign with a 62-36 win against Malawi at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. This was the first of three games for England in the opening stage of the competition as they face South Africa on Sunday, February 2nd at Motorpoint Arena before heading to London to face Uganda on Saturday, February 8th. They will then play in either the third-place playoff or the final on February 9th.
Paige Reed, the University of Nottingham’s head of performance for netball, made her international debut and couldn’t have got off to a better start as she opened the scoring in the match. It was a strong first five minutes for the hosts but Malawi ensured the game did not get away form them early as they grew into the first quarter. They played some great free-flowing netball, making sure the Roses realised this would be no easy matchup. After the first quarter, England had a 17-13 lead in what was proving to be a physical affair.
The Roses extended their lead in the second quarter. Reed continued to combine well with England’s goal shooter, Olivia Tchine. Tchine did have a rare miss from close range towards the end of the second quarter but amended shortly after as she scored the final point of the half to give the Roses a 31-24 lead at halftime.
Despite the injury to their starting goal shooter, the Roses took control of the 3rd quarter
Just two and a half minutes into the second half, England suffered an injury blow as Tchine was forced off after having an excellent first half, scoring 21 points as she made 88% of her shots. Tchine’s injury moved Reed to goal shooter as Emma Thacker took over at goal attack. Despite the injury to their starting goal shooter, the Roses took control of the 3rd quarter, showing their depth as the game went on with players such as Emma Williams at goal defence making an impact. Beth Cobden and Razia Quashie also had a strong 3rd quarter as both attacks started to slow but England’s defence, led by Cobden at wing defence and Quashie at goal keeper, started to frustrate Malawi’s offensive players.
After a low-scoring 3rd quarter, the Roses entered the final period of the game with a 43-32 lead. Cobden made way for Ellie Rattu at wing defence, once again showing England’s great depth as the home side began to pull away. Reed continued to impress on her debut as any hope of a Malawi comeback started to fade.
The score didn’t stop Malawi’s fans from letting their voices be heard
Malawi had held their own for three quarters and played some great netball but England’s quality stood out in the 4th quarter. The score didn’t stop Malawi’s fans from letting their voices be heard as they were right behind their team the entire game, contributing to a great atmosphere at Motorpoint Arena. England’s defence was even stronger in the 4th quarter, conceding just four points in the last part of the game.
The game ended 62-36 as England won in dominant fashion against a strong Malawi team. Paige Reed collected the player of the match award on her international debut as she scored 31 points, making 94% of her shots.
We spoke Reed after the game. She talked about how her and Emma Thacker have trained together well so they knew what to expect from each other when Thacker entered the court after Tchine left the game with an injury. This may have been Reed’s first international cap but she has been part of the England camp before, in October 2022, when she didn’t manage it to make it onto the court. The player of the match said that she would have been ready had she been called upon in 2022 but now she feels even more prepared. Reed spoke highly of the rest of the squad, talking about how everyone has rallied around her. Now that she’s on the court getting game time, the Manchester Thunder star wants to push even more for success with England.
Tom Henigan
Featured image courtesy of Morgan Harlow. Permission given to Impact to use. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @englandnetball via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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