Source : the age
Glasgow: As the siren sounded on the Diamonds’ semi-final clash with Jamaica, only Commonwealth Games debutant Sophie Dwyer stood between Australia and unwanted history.
The Diamonds – who had never lost a Games semi-final before – were down by one goal to Jamaica and Dwyer had an opportunity to tie the game and force extra time.
She lined up and took the shot from long range, but the ball bounced off the rim.
Cue pandemonium for Jamaica, who stormed the court in ecstasy over their 46-45 victory, celebrating as if they’d already won the gold medal. In some ways, they had.
The Diamonds entered the competition as the clear favourites, cruising through their opening rounds and easily defeating England, Tonga, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Malawi. But they were ill prepared for a fiery Jamaican side in the semi-final.
Kate Moloney admitted after the loss that it “hadn’t quite sunk in yet” and said Dwyer should not bear the burden of the loss.
When Dwyer missed her shot after the buzzer, Moloney went to comfort and embrace her teammate.
“We will wrap our arms around her. It’s a full team loss, it’s not on one person. We should not have been in the position where we needed to shoot a goal after the siren,” Moloney said.
“Really disappointing but credit to Jamaica, they really came out and really gave it to us,” she said. “We probably just didn’t execute the way we needed to.”
It was a packed house at the Hydro, where the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children were among the spectators. The crowd was clearly pro-Jamaica, but Moloney dismissed suggestions that had any effect on the playing group, saying “we don’t really notice too much of that.”
“We know that at our best we beat anyone, and today we probably just weren’t at our best,” she said. “We’ll have a look at it and take lots of learnings and come out stronger tomorrow.”
The Diamonds will now have to settle for a chance at bronze against England on Sunday instead of trying for back-to-back gold medals, the first time they will sit out the decider since netball became a full part of the Commonwealth Games program in 1998.
This time, it will be the Jamaicans taking on New Zealand in the gold medal match.
The Diamonds had no answer for Jamaica’s aerial superiority in the first half, as the Sunshine Girls overpowered them with sheer force and speed – aided by a truly stupendous performance from Shamera Sterling Humphrey, who used all 190 centimetres of her height to intercept and create crucial turnovers.
Sterling-Humphrey recently won the 2026 Super Netball grand final with the Adelaide Thunderbirds back in Australia. Her presence in the Jamaican squad was deadly for the Australians, who struggled to stop her.
In the final five minutes of the last quarter, the umpire’s whistle could barely be heard as the crowd turned up the volume in favour of the Jamaican side.
Their bench was no less involved, cheering, encouraging, advising and waving the flag throughout the entire match. It reached fever pitch as Dwyer’s shot missed and they stormed the court, jumping on top of each other.
Australia’s bench looked stunned, with coach Stacey Marinkovich staring stony-faced while other players leaned forward with their hands covering their mouths.
Sterling-Humphrey said if anyone was going to beat the Diamonds, it was going to be the Jamaicans.
“We have the inside information on them [the Diamonds] and thanks to the Suncorp Super Netball season for giving us the upper hand, playing them week in, week out,” she laughed.
It’s been an extraordinary year for Sterling-Humphrey, who has been candid and vulnerable about her postpartum journey.
“My bubs is somewhere in the stands cheering his mommy on,” she said.“I’m so proud of the year I’ve had, battling postpartum depression.”
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.
