ENGLAND has made a positive start to its Nations Cup campaign, defeating Uganda 62 goals to 56 in its opening match.

In a match tighter than the final score might suggested, it was a hard fought contest but England ultimately pulled away to take the win.

England was the one to jump out to a quick lead, quickly scoring three goals before the She Cranes even had their first on the board.

However after a couple of minutes Uganda worked itself back into the game and halved the margin in the process.

The Ugandans really began to use the height difference between Mary Cholhok and Razia Quashie to their advantage and as the halfway point of the quarter progressed they levelled proceedings up.

Defence from the mid courts of both sides was particularly strong, which made both sides really have to work for every goal they scored.

England managed to pull away a little in the final few minutes of the quarter to ultimately take a three goal lead into the first change.

The status quo was maintained for the early part of the second quarter but as the quarter moved into its second third England were able to pull away a little and double their quarter time lead.

Uganda just could not get the intercept hands on the ball like the English could, so did not look like bridging the gap that the Roses had established early, and with both Helen Housby and Eleanor Cardwell feeling comfortable to successfully shoot from range just made things harder for the She Cranes.

Things went from bad to worse for Uganda when Christine Nakitto copped a two minute suspension for a particularly rough contact on Cardwell. Despite being a player down Uganda’s passing and ball retention was strong, being really patient with bringing the ball down the court to avoid losing the ball.

However, the margin in the end was still four goals in England’s favour at the main break.

Uganda got the better start of the two teams to the second half, and quickly had England on the back foot and the margin at only two goals. It did eventually level proceedings with about five minutes to go in the quarter off the back of a stellar intercept from Falidah Kadondi.

Teams traded blows for much of the remainder of the quarter as neither side could brush off the other.

Ultimately England took a one goal lead into the final break, but it really was either side’s game to take in the final quarter.

England continued to change things up with the on court line up, and enjoyed a quick boost to their lead early in the last term. That was quickly out to six goals, and as the teams traded blows as the quarter progressed, Uganda tried to cut the margin but ultimately could not find a way to do so.

Imogen Allison (33 feeds, 19 assists, one gain, one intercept) was a workhorse through midcourt for the Roses, while player of the match Housby had a strong game in goals.

Meanwhile for Uganda Kadondi (four deflections, three gains, two intercepts) was impressive in defensive, while Margaret Bagaala and Sarah Nakiyunga were workhorses through midcourt.

ENGLAND         18 | 16 | 12 | 16 (62)
UGANDA           15 | 15 | 15 | 11 (56)

STARTING SEVENS

England

GS: Eleanor Cardwell
GA: Helen Housby
WA: Natalie Metcalf
C: Imogen Allison
WD: Amy Carter
GD: Fran Williams
GK: Razia Quashie

Uganda

GS: Mary Cholhok
GA: Irene Eyaru
WA: Lillian Achola
C: Margaret Bagaala
WD: Florence Aduna
GD: Christine Nakitto
GK: Haniisha Muhameed