England netball star Layla Guscoth suffered an unfortunate collision with the goal post during her side’s semi-final netball tie against Australia at the Commonwealth Games. Guscoth flew into the post while attempting an interception, causing the post to bend and prompting a change of equipment. The incident occurred early in the first quarter, with England leading Australia 3-2. Guscoth, who plays in goal defence, was unharmed during the incident, though England did lose the match 60-51.

Fans react to incident 

Despite Guscoth’s strong collision with the post, the majority of fans found the situation hilarious. 

“This was pretty funny, ngl”, admitted one user. 

“This made me laugh so much,” stressed another. 

Meanwhile, someone else pointed out that Guscoth’s teammates continued playing, rather than checking on her.

“Love that her teammates' reaction is still to defend rather than check on her - that’s commitment,” they said. 

Others compared the incident to footballer Phil Babb’s infamous collision with the goal post during Liverpool’s match against Chelsea in 1998. 

“A Phil Babb moment,” stressed one user. 

“At last, someone who can come close to feeling Phil Babb’s pain,” another joked. 

England’s gold medal hopes over

Four years ago, England famously beat Australia in the Gold Coast to clinch Commonwealth Games gold. 

However, their dreams of defending their title on home soil are now over. 

Australia, who are ranked first in the world, seized the initiative from the very start of the match and never looked like faltering. 

England will now play New Zealand in the bronze medal match on Sunday. 

“Losing is meant to hurt,” said England’s head coach, Jess Thirlby after the game. “If you play really well and you lose then there’s an element where you can kind of get your head around it, but we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“The top four teams are capable of getting into the final and contesting for gold, so for any of us that find ourselves in bronze it is disappointing.”

Who is Guscoth? 

Guscoth is widely considered one of the best goal-defenders in the world. 

The Birmingham-born star was a member of the England squad that won bronze at the Netball World Cup in 2019 but missed the majority of the tournament through injury. 

The 30-year-old made her senior England debut in 2012 against Jamaica and has captained at under-17s and under-21s levels. 

Between 2015 and 2018, she took a break from playing for England to focus on becoming a doctor. 

At club level, Guscoth has played for Loughborough Lightning, Hertfordshire Mavericks and Team Bath in the Netball Superleague, as well as the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Suncorp Super Netball.