England still have 'juice in tank' for netball bronze bid

England netballer Eleanor Cardwell insists there is still "so much juice left in the tank" to fight for Commonwealth Games bronze after the Roses missed out on a place in the final with defeat by New Zealand.

England will play Australia or Jamaica in Sunday's bronze-medal match (09:00 BST) in Glasgow after losing their semi-final 61-54 to a powerful Silver Ferns side.

Two-time champions New Zealand are through to their sixth final and their first since 2014.

"It is really, really frustrating," goal shooter Cardwell told BBC Sport.

"I think there are some good things in [Saturday's performance]. We did have a fightback. There has been times when we've just let it get to us and the score get away. I am proud of the fightback, not proud of the score obviously.

"We all have so much love for each other that we know we can go out there on court and perform. There is so much juice in this tank, it's unbelievable. I'm ready to get that bronze medal."

New Zealand passed the ball with great speed and accuracy early on, but England rallied to settle their nerves, with goal shooter Liv Tchine drawing the match level at 3-3.

But the prowess of the Silver Ferns and their height advantage through shooter Grace Nweke was too strong as they hit double figures with eight minutes played and held a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter at the Hydro.

Bringing on Cardwell in place of Tchine towards the end of that quarter gave the Roses a lift, as they upped their intensity in the second period to close the deficit to 25-21.

After scoring 23 goals from 23 shots, Nweke missed just before half-time to leave New Zealand leading 29-24, with hope remaining for a comeback for Anna Stembridge's side.

England had moments of great defensive pressure, but were not as consistent at turning possession into goals, allowing the Silver Ferns to stretch the gap to nine points with 15 minutes left to play.

The damage was done by the time the Roses fought to close the gap to seven at the finish, and they will now need to lift themselves for Sunday's bronze-medal match.

In reaching the final (Sunday 13:00), New Zealand will be aiming to win Commonwealth gold for the first time since the 2010 Games.

England captain Fran Williams said her team were left devastated by their semi-final exit, but will be ready for the quick turnaround.

"We were just a bit slow to get into the game and made some silly errors," she told BBC Sport.

"Once a team gets confident in a semi-final, it's really hard to chip away at that. Full credit to New Zealand, I feel like they were absolutely amazing today and we were nowhere near our best.

"[We have] got to get around each other, not go isolated now and think and dwell too much on that last game because we've got a win to get.

"It's what I feel like we deserve and we work so hard for. You want to come away with a medal and we're still in the race for that so you've got to get excited about that."

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