Consolation win for England's U-21s

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's Under-21 netballers failed to register their first whitewash on home soil yesterday. They went down 46-43 to England in the final game of their three-Test series at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine.

The young Sunshine Girls took the series 2-1 following 49-33 and 43-29 wins in the first two 'Tests'.

Crystal Gordon led the way for the young Sunshine Girls with 32 goals from 34 attempts. She received solid support from captain Christina Solmon, eight from nine, and Vanessa Walker, three from five.

29 goals from 40 attempts

Jo Harten, 29 goals from 40 attempts, Alex Kirk, nine goals from 12 tries, and Kristy Delves, eight goals from 12 attempts, were the scorers for England.

Jamaica's coach, C. Lloyd Walker, blamed his team's defeat on their poor first-quarter performance.

"I think that we lost the game from the first period, because we turned over the ball too many times," said Walker.

The Jamaicans had eight turnovers early and trailed their opponents 13-6 at the end of the first period.

The local girls played better in the second quarter but England still led by seven goals (26-19) at half-time.

The Jamaicans came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter as they stepped up their defence. Gordon got eight goals, as the hosts quickly outscored their rivals 9-2 to tie the game at 28-28 with five minutes remaining. However, the English youngsters fought back gallantly to take a 33-31 lead at the end of the period.

The fourth period was evenly contested. There were four lead changes but the English players held their nerves in the final minutes to earn their first win of the series.

Both teams are using the series as part of their preparations for the World Youth Netball Championships, which will be held in the Cook Islands in August.