STILL smarting from their one-point loss to the England Roses in the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in April, Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls took to the courts of National Indoor Sports Arena, in the Lasco/Sunshine three-Test Series on Thursday, with revenge on their minds.

Even if it wasn’t explicitly stated, the 55-56 loss to England which cost them a place in the gold medal match in Australia still hurts, and so the first game of the series in Jamaica, their first meeting since then, was always going to be a statement game.

While England arrived at the venue late for the game, Jamaica were primed and ready for their opponents and struck hard and struck early.

Led by arguably the best shooter in the game in Jhaniele Fowler, the home team got off to the perfect start, scoring four unanswered goals in the first few minutes to get the partisan crowd into the game from early. The hosts led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter as the visitors desperately tried to play catch-up.

Things didn’t get better for England in the second quarter, as the Jamaicans almost doubled their output, scoring 19 goals compared to their 10 to lead 35-21 at the half-time interval, due largely in part to the combination of Fowler and Shanice Beckford on offence and the exceptional work of Shamera Sterling on defence.

The second half was not the same as the first for the Jamaicans, as Fowler started the third quarter on the bench before the coaching staff, led by Marvette Anderson, made a number of changes throughout the third quarter which saw a decrease in the intensity of the hosts.

England scored 11 goals in each quarter of the second half while Jamaica scored nine goals in each. While the statistics is clearly no reason to set off alarm bells based on the margin between the two in the second half, Anderson and her team need to be mindful of the fact that they are playing against the Commonwealth Games champions.

The champs have shown what they are capable of and so the bronze medallists from those Games must be prepared for a serious backlash today.

For certain, England will not be late for game two and goal shooter Helen Housby must report in better form than the 27/35 she contributed on Thursday. Likewise, Eleanor Candwell (10/14) at goal attack will look to connect better with her teammates to ensure a better showing on Jamaica soil.

Kadien Corbin and Jade Clarke will also be looking to better their performances in the shooting circle should they get the chance, as England already face a series-deciding game even before they have properly digested their jerked chicken dinners.

So it is now down to a two-game series and the local ladies need to be switched on from the first whistle, just as they were for game one. The small but energetic Adean Thomas was highly effective at centre, while the fearless Stacian Facey was the perfect foil for Sterling, who was rated the best defender in Australia, in the defensive circle.

Khadijah Williams at wing attack and Vangelle Williams at wing defence also made valuable contributions at either end of the court, matching up against their opponents to good effect. They will look to match or increase their output today in this high-stakes game.

A win for Jamaica today makes Monday’s game a dead rubber, while a win for England will set up the Heroes’ Day fixture as a must see for all netball fans.

England Head Coach Tracey Neville will be hoping to set up a proper Heroes’ Day party with victory tonight, while Anderson will be setting out her team to win the series today and go for a series sweep on Monday.

The crucial game two begins at 6:00 pm at the same venue.