Sport

Tough loss for Sunshine Girls

Elaine Davis and Oberon Pitterson - file photos

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JAMAICA'S SUNSHINE GIRLS lost the last match of their three-Test series against England when they went down 58-47 last night.

After winning the first Test and then drawing the second on Tuesday, Jamaica lost their way in this deciding game and went under to a dominant England side.

"We are very disappointed. We started out well, not taking anything from England, but we just weren't steady throughout the game," Oberon Pitterson told CMC Sports afterward.

Tough calls

"We had some tough calls ....calls not going our way. It was a tough loss for us, but it was a good series because now we know where we are, and where we need to go, come next year's Common-wealth Games."

In an impressive and controlled team performance, England played consistently throughout, and were not phased by the physical challenges posed by the visiting side.

Both teams started nervously, but it was England's young attack of Pamela Cookey and Rachel Dunn who settled first, driving confidently towards the post and shooting accurately.

England's all-court defence pressurised the Jamaicans into errors and allowed the home side to end the first quarter 16-12 ahead.

During the second quarter however, momentary lapses in concentration by the home side allowed Jamaica back into the game, and goal shooter Elaine Davis started to find her range, and at half time, the scores were tied at 27.

England went on the attack at the start of the third period, with wing attack Karen Aspinall and centre Olivia Murphy working tirelessly to take the ball on the edge of the circle and make the feed as simple as possible.

Jamaica's defence found it hard to cope with the swift, flat passing of the home side, and England eased ahead, to leave the scoreboard tantalisingly poised 41-36 in their favour at the end of the third quarter.

Cookey and Dunn were rampant in the final period, dictating the play to their opponents with some impressive drives to the post, and put the game out of Jamaica's grasp.

"I am thrilled with a superb team effort, which was no mean achievement against Jamaica," England's coach Marg Caldow said.

"We put up four consistent quarters which made a difference from our previous encounters with them, although we threw away a bit of balls, which would have meant we won by more.

"Our defence was particularly strong, and we maintained control for long phases of the game, which was excellent."

Davis scored 37 goals from 45 attempts and Simone Forbes sank 10 of 12 for Jamaica, while Dunn netted 40 for 48 and Cookey scored 18 of 21 for England.