TRACEY Neville's hopes of a second Commonwealth Games netball medal ended in tears at the MEN Arena on Sunday.
The Bury girl and her England teammates slumped to a 55-53 defeat at the hands of Jamaica in a thrilling bronze medal play-off.
For the Jamaicans it was revenge for a defeat at the corresponding stage four years ago in the Kuala Lumpur Games.
At the end of the first quarter England enjoyed a 14-13 lead
but the Jamaicans kept their composure and shooter Elaine Davis gave them a crucial edge.
Davis converted 14 from 14 and 10 from 10 in the second and third quarters to keep her side in the frame.
They led 41-40 at three quarter time but England, spurred on by a near capacity 10,000 crowd took the lead with seven minutes remaining.
However, with one minute to go the home side were back 54-53 behind mainly thanks to Davis's accuracy and the game was up for England when a high pass to shooter Alex Astle overshot the mark.
Australia took the gold medal after a dramatic sudden death 57-55 victory over arch rivals New Zealand.
And it was the Aussies that put paid to England's gold and silver medal hopes when they saw off the home challenge 49-38 on Friday.
England matched their opponents 23-23 in the second and third quarters after taking a 12-6 lead in the first fifteen minutes.
However they got back on the front foot in the final quarter to kill off any England hopes.
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