Beth Cobden pushing for a Commonwealth Games medal

Cobden who grew up in Heath Hayes and now lives in Lichfield, a Super league All-Star last season, is making her first appearance at the Games - and hasn’t lost a match yet.

Tracey Neville’s Roses won their first-ever Commonwealth Games clash with New Zealand by a commanding 54-45 scoreline yesterday.

It secures progress to the semi-finals unbeaten and gives confidence that England could improve their best previous performance, bronze medals in 2006 and 2010, this weekend.

“There’s a great mix of players in the team, newer and more experienced,” said Cobden, 25.

“New Zealand have been a tough opponent for England over the years but we’ve beaten them in our last two matches and it’s huge to win at a major tournament

“They came out at us really hard but we didn’t stop fighting or working for the entire game, it was our best performance yet.

“There’s such an amazing spirit and we’ve got a winning momentum that we just have to continue.”

England will now face Jamaica in the semi-finals tomorrow - with a place in a first final the prize.

The Caribbean island has history against England - dramatically beating them to bronze at the last Games in Glasgow, with many of the current team’s friends and family watching in the stands.

“We’re ready for any team, we’ve worked so hard for this and made so many sacrifices,” added Cobden.

Meanwhile England’s men’s hockey team will face Australia in the semi-finals after a dramatic 4-3 defeat to India.

Needing a draw to top their group, England conceded twice in the final two minutes, but David Goodfield, insists the quality of their performance, if not the result, bodes well for Friday’s last four clash with the hosts.

He said: “We’re all about the performance really. Obviously the result is very disappointing but we had a really good first half, a really good majority of the game, it’s just a shame we had a couple of lapses of concentration at the end.

“Unfortunately that happens in these games, if you slack off for a few minutes, you risk losing the game. We’re still through to the semi-final, and whoever we play we knew it was going to be tough. So we’re disappointed with the result but happy with the majority of the performance.”

Finally there was disappointment for Mimi-Isabella Cesar as England could only finish sixth in the team event of the rhythmic gymnastics.

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