Jamaica whip England 53-26 in Tri-Nation Netball Series
JAMAICA produced a sparkling display to beat England 53-26 in the Under-21 Tri-Nation Netball Series at the Dr Alfred Sangster Auditorium at the University of Technology (UTech) on Saturday night.
It was the first of three matches between the two teams in the series, with the others being tomorrow and Thursday, also at UTech starting at 7:30 pm. It was the second win for Jamaica in the Tri-Nation Series, having already demolished Trinidad and Tobago 85-23 last Wednesday.
Oberon Pitterson-Nattie, head coach of Jamaica’s Under-21 team, said she was extremely pleased with the performance of the girls. “We tried a number of different strategies and rotated the players by giving everyone a chance on court as we look to select the final 12 for the World Under-21 Netball Championships to be played in Glasgow, Scotland, next month.”
She added: “At times we lapsed with our turnovers, but they played brilliantly. I must say also the defenders played well as they gave the England girls little scoring opportunities with good markings and intercepting passes well.”
Meanwhile, England’s coach Grace Parkinson-Griffith said she was not pleased with the performance of the players, as they squandered too many turnovers and the shooters were also badly off target.
“We played well in the first two quarters, but the third and fourth quarters they could not find their rhythm. The team played well in patches, but they need to play 60 minutes together during matches,” Parkinson-Griffith said.
Meanwhile, the scores were locked on four occasions in the first quarter before the Jamaicans led at the break with goal-shooter Shantel Slater at the helm. The Jamaicans outscored England in the second quarter 13-7 to go into half-time with a 26-15 lead.
Both coaches made a few changes by bringing on their reserves. However, Jamaica continued to dominate the match as they raced to a 39-19 lead at the completion of the third quarter.
For Jamaica, Slater netted 34 goals from 40 attempts and goal-attack Shanice Beckford added 15 goals from 21 attempts, while for England, goal-shooter Alice Travis scored 15 goals from 24 attempts, and goal-attack Rachel Shaaw hit five goals from 12 efforts.
Last Friday, England had beaten Trinidad and Tobago 53-40.
Jamaica were down to play Trinidad and Tobago at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Bowl last evening.
