Wales Power To Netball Victory Against Fiji Pearls

Wales swept to an impressive 61-40 victory in their World ranking netball international against Fiji Pearls at the Netball Europe Championships in Cardiff.

The Welsh players bounced back from their agonising one-goal defeat against Northern Ireland on day one and produced a solid team performance at Sport Wales National Centre.

Wales led 17-6 after the first quarter and 31-18 at half-time and maintained momentum to finish comfortable winners.

Georgia Rowe and Chelsea Lewis shared goal-shooter duties to help Wales win 61-40.

“The whole squad are beaming,” said defender Kelly Morgan.

“We had this performance in us and it’s good to put that onto the court.”

Quarter scores (Wales first): 17-6; 14-12 (31-18); 13-13 (44-31); 17-9 (61-40).

England won both of their Championship matches, beating Scotland 61-48 and Northern Ireland 75-44.

Defending champions England, ranked number three in the World, now play Fiji at 6pm on Saturday and Wales at noon on Sunday.

Wales play Northern Ireland in an under-17 international at 12.30pm on Saturday.

Wales under-17 squad management team: head coach Jo Ricketts, team manager Tricia Chapman, physio Jay Kitgrave.

Under-17 talent squad: Ellie Thomas, Lydia Hanniford, Grace Lim, Seren Davies, Ellie Merriman, Alicia Simpson, Ali Francis, Wiktoria Rejniak, Esme Cornelius, Sarah Cole, Jessica Llewellyn, Neve Morton, Thalia Humble, Maisie Williams, Ella Porter, Ffion Cooper, Georgia Hellerman, Lucy Nota, Rosie Pope, Grace Postlethwaite.

Netball European Open Championships, fixtures:

Thursday, October 5

World ranking match: Fiji 34, Scotland 52.

Europe Championships: Wales 46, Northern Ireland 47.

Friday, October 6

England 61, Scotland 48

Fiji 61, Wales 40

England 75, Northern Ireland 44

Saturday, October 7

10.25am-Noon Fiji v Northern Ireland

12.30 Under-17, Wales v Northern Ireland

3.55pm-5.30pm Wales v Scotland

5.55pm-7.30pm England v Fiji

Sunday, October 8

9.55am-11.30am Scotland v Northern Ireland

11.55am-1.30pm England v Wales

Tickets for the tournament are available here: https://www.ticketline.co.uk/netball-europe-open-2017#bio