Wales Save Best For Last Thanks To Chelsea Lewis

There was a win at last for the Wales netball team as they ended their Commonwealth Games campaign on a high with a ninth place finish by beating Fiji 81-32.

You had to go back to the victory over the Fijian Pearls in Cardiff on 6 October, 2017 (61-40) for their last competitive international win and the impressive victory meant Wales did not finish bottom in the tournament. They also beat Fiji 59-52 at the 2015 World Cup.

They finished ninth in Glasgow four years ago, winning two Pool matches, and the 81 points they scored was the most they had shot in 29 matches at the Commonwealth Games, with the 49 point winning margin marking another Welsh record.

A blistering opening quarter saw Wales establish a 16 goal lead (21-5) and they pulled away in the final period with a 23-4 burst. Once again Team Bath goal shooter Chelsea Lewis led the attack and ended with 35 goals in the match to take her tally in the tournament to 192.

It was just as well that Lewis had a change of heart in representing Wales. Until there was a change in coach she was going to miss her second Games and Wales would have had a huge hole to fill.

Well done to @TeamWales Netball on their win this afternoon – good way to finish off – enjoyed watching – @WelshNetball pic.twitter.com/PVKAbeCc8I

— Geraint John (@geraintrugby) April 12, 2018

She had an 80.67% shooting success rate over the tournament and was Wales’ main target.

Cara Lee Moseley picked up 45 goals, Georgia Rowe 37 and Sarah Llewellyn 22. But the loss of wing attack Bethan Dyke through injury for the final four matches was a huge blow.

Just how much the team has developed under Australian interim head coach Julie Hoornweg will show when the bulk of the team return to Netball Super League action with the Celtic Dragons on their return.

Wales Results
Pool B – Wales 44-70 New Zealand; Wales 47-51 Scotland; Wales 31-85 England; Wales 40-76 Uganda; Wales 53-68 Malawi; Play Off (11-12): Wales 81-32 Fiji

Welsh Goal Scorers

Chelsea Lewis                    21/31 – 39/48 – 22/28 – 34/42 – 41/52 – 35/39          = 192 / 238 (80.67%)
Georgia Rowe                   1/2 – NA – 5/6 – 6/7 – NA – 25/26                                  = 37 / 42 (88%)
Cara Lee Moseley            21/30 – 5/8 – 4/6 – NA – 3/5 – 12/12                             = 45 / 61 (73.77%)
Sarah Llewellyn                1/1 – 3/3 – NA – 0/1 – 9/10 – 9/12                  = 22 / 27 (81.48%)

Wales Netball at the Commonwealth Games

Games                  Yr            P             W           D             L              GF          GA          Place
K. Lumpur           1998       5              1              1              3              216         321         9=
Manchester       2002       6              2              0              4              187         394         6
Melbourne         2006       6              2              0              4              228         317         8
Glasgow               2014       6              2              0              4              235         311         8
Gold Coast          2018       6              1              0              5              296         382         11
Totals                                    29           8              1              20           1172       1725