Caitlin Thwaites’ dream of a second Commonwealth Games gold medal was thwarted in sensational fashion on Sunday.
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Thwaites and the Australian Diamonds were hot favourite to defeat England in the gold medal game and defend their title from Glasgow four years ago.
However, in one of the biggest shocks in international netball history, England edged out Australia 52-51 as goal attack Joanne Harton converted a penalty shot in the final seconds of the match.
Leading into the gold medal game, Thwaites and the Diamonds had not lost a quarter all tournament let alone a match.
"We never got going, really, from the start," coach Lisa Alexander said.
"We just couldn't get enough ball off them, which is disappointing.
"If we don't work hard enough on attack and defence, which we did not do today, like we've done in all of the matches, that's what you're going to get."
Once the heartache of the gold medal game subsides, Thwaites will be able to look back on her individual performances at the Commonwealth Games with great pride.
In seven games, Thwaites scored 160 goals from 162 attempts, including a perfect 39 from 39 against Northern Ireland and 24 from 25 in the Diamonds’ impressive semi-final win over New Zealand.
Thwaites scored six goals from six attempts in a brief stint on the court in the third quarter of the gold medal game before Alexander decided to take the team’s leading scorer for the tournament off the court.
Thwaites will now prepare for the upcoming Suncorp Super Netball season with Collingwood.
The Magpies first game is against crosstown rival the Melbourne Vixens on April 28.
After the SuncorpSuper Netball season Thwaites will turn her attention to next year’s World Cup in Liverpool in England.
Her team-mates are already planning revenge.
"This will drive us. We know we prepared and we ticked every box but to have this extra fire in your belly is something that we'll draw on in the future," Diamonds’ Gabi Simpson said.
"It hurts a lot now but it'll make us all the more stronger. They've taken it on our turf and that's where we'll set our mind to, (England)."
EARLIER – England has upset Australia in a heart-stopping final to win 52-51 and claim gold in a massive netball boilover at the Commonwealth Games.
Having not dropped a single quarter all tournament, the Diamonds faltered at the final hurdle in the face of relentless pressure from the Roses in front of a stunned crowd at Coomera.
It is England's first Commonwealth title, coming in their very first final against a side that had hardly been challenged until now.
And it went right down to the wire, as Joanne Harton converted a penalty shot in the final seconds of the contest to lock in an incredible victory.
Bendigo’s Caitlin Thwaites played limited minutes in the third quarter and shot six goals from six attempts before being sent back to the bench in favour of Caitlin Bassett.
Australia had led by as much as four goals in the last quarter and looked to have snapped the Roses' fierce resistance, but a handful of calamitous errors let them back into the contest.
Centre Kimberly Ravaillion's failure to keep her feet inside the centre circle at the restart was the critical turnover, allowing England another crack in attack as their comeback gathered steam.
Harten (34 from 39) and Helen Houseby (18 from 21) did the scoreboard damage for the Roses but it was a genuine full team effort from all over the court that successfully stifled the swift ball movement of their heavily-favoured opponents.
Coach Lisa Alexander shuffled her pack at half time, sending on Caitlin Thwaites and Steph Wood in a move that seemed to finally wake the Diamonds from their slumber.
Wood drained two long-range efforts towards the end of the third quarter to seize the momentum and put Australia up 38-36, with the Sunshine Coast product playing a vital role in attack in the last term.
But the Diamonds were left heartbroken in the end, and will be left to rue their failure to match England's interminable intensity on the biggest stage of all in their sport.