England fight back to reach Commonwealth Games semis with win over South Africa

England stormed back from a six-goal deficit at the end of the first quarter to book their place in the netball semi-finals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a 58-54 win over South Africa at the Hydro.

Anna Stembridge’s side went into the game knowing defeat would mean them failing to reach the last four of the competition for the first time since the sport was introduced to the Games in 1998.

A thumping 66-47 defeat to Australia in their second Group A game had left their qualification hopes hanging by a thread and they started as slight underdogs against the South Africans, to whom they lost a bruising three-match series in January.

England could not contain towering South Africa goal shooter Elmere van der Berg, who dominated the shooting circle in the opening quarter, with Stembridge’s side punished for failing to capitalise on their turnovers.

The loss of centre Imogen Allison, who hobbled off with an ankle injury early in the second quarter, further threatened their chances, but England rallied with the help of eight from Lois Pearson to pull back to a single-goal deficit at half-time.

The introduction of goal defence Halimat Adio made the difference in the third quarter as she shackled Van der Berg superbly while Pearson’s continued accuracy gave the Roses a strong 43-39 advantage.

England maintained their advantage throughout a muscular fourth quarter and Pearson finished with a perfect 17 goals from 17 shots to confirm a 58-54 win and set up a semi-final against New Zealand on Saturday.

Stembridge said: “We spoke around not getting too many opportunities like this, where it’s the last game of the pool stages and ultimately it decides a semi-final position.

“The girls leaned into that pressure and they really trusted one another. We did not catastrophise the first quarter. We knew we had more to give, and I’m just delighted that we gave enough to get ourselves into a semi-final.”

Published: 31/07/2026 by Radio NewsHub