NEW DELHI, India, CMC – Barbados finished seventh in the netball competition at the 19th Commonwealth Games here after their stormed back from an early deficit to post a narrow 60-59 win over rival Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.
Playing at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, Barbados found themselves down by 11 goals in the third quarter but pulled off a sterling comeback to nip the Trinidadians.
They were led by goal shoot Lydia Bishop who converted 44 goals from 52 attempts while Nikita Piggott shot 10 from 12 attempts.
“I am very proud of my girls. Words cannot describe it. This is the start of something great,” said coach Alwin Babb.
“For the first three quarters we were inconsistent. Trinidad put up a tough game but that is what we expected. Both teams wanted the win.”
“I knew we could turn it around; they just needed to believe in themselves. I had to get Laurel (Browne) who played extremely well, on in the mid-court.”
T&T’s offensive efforts were spearheaded by goal shoot Anestacia Wilson who converted 33 from 35 attempts, and Joelisa Cooper who shot 20 from 24 attempts.
The performance left coach Bridget Adams annoyed.
“Today was the worst game we have ever played at these Games. Our team lost focus in the third quarter. They lost their communication,” she lamented.
“We were no longer defending as we had to. There were a lot of difficulties in getting the ball to the shooter.
“Everything was going well for them (Barbados) since the third quarter, but our players lost themselves in the fourth quarter.”
Barbados trailed 18-13 at the end of the first quarter and were facing a seven-goal deficit at the half-time break.
The Barbadians trailed by as much as 11 in the third but had cut this to five at the start of the final stanza, before launching their tremendous comeback.
