England's centre Karen Atkinson (left) catches a ball ahead of Jamaica's Nadine Bryan (second left), while wing-attack Marion Campbell and England's wing-defence Jade Clarke look on at the National Indoor Sports Centre last night. England won, 53-37. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Jamaica's Sunshine Girls were defeated, 53-37, by the touring England team last night at the National Indoor Sports Centre in the first match of the Tri-Test series.

The game tested the mettle of the Jamaican team which crumbled under the pressure from the visitors through inconsistent plays and numerous turnovers.

The first quarter began with very close-marking from both teams determined to get an early lead. However, it was England who surged ahead, 3-1, in a few minutes before extending the lead to 6-1, forcing the Jamaicans to call time out.
The Sunshine Girls still struggled to get the ball to shooter Elaine Davis, who was heavily marked by defenders Geva Mentor and Sonia Mkoloma.
Nevertheless, through the hard work of goal-attack Simone Forbes and with three minutes left in the first quarter, the home side managed to reduce the margin to 7-5 and 8-6.
A few turnovers allowed England to take control of the game again and rap up the quarter with a 13-8 lead.
In the second stanza, the Sunshine Girls came out more purposeful and took the first two goals. But in no time, England started creating more space in mid-court to allow their attackers to deliver the ball more safely to shooter Rachel Dunn, who sank basket after basket. This pushed their lead to 18-12 and then 20-15.

Jamaica had to make changes to their line-up following the injury of centre Peter Gay Thomas, who was replaced by Nadine Bryan, while Marion Campbell went to wing-attack. This helped to lessen the scoring the chances of the visitors, bringing score to 20-17 and 22-18 at the end of the half.

Both teams made a few changes thereafter, with Jamaica bringing on Romelda Aiken for Davis and Tameka Stewart for Nicole Aiken in defence.

England introduced Karen Atkinson at wing-attack and captain Olivia Murphy at centre. Despite efforts to close the gap, the Jamaican turnovers in centre court continued.

Romelda Aiken's height advantage brought little success to the home team's shooting circle as the attackers struggled to get the ball safely to her.

Before long, England ran to a 10-point lead at 36-26 as shooters Pamela Cookey and Dunn displayed their accuracy. The visitors then scored four more baskets to Jamaica's two to end the third quarter, 40-28.

Despite a few brilliant plays from Simone Forbes and Nadine Bryan in attack and Kasey Evering and Nicole Aiken in defence, the last quarter only served to cement the superiority of the English team, which rallied to leads of 45-32 and 47-34.

With just five minutes left in the match, Jamaica made more changes, replacing Gibson with Sasha Gaye Henry. Nevertheless, the visitors outplayed their hosts to end the match at 53-37.

"I was very pleased with my team even though we have more work to do for tomorrow (today). We're not quite where we want to be," said England coach Marg Caldow at the end of the match.

Jamaica's coach Oberon Pitterson was disappointed with the final score.

"We're capable of performing better. We started out strong but had to play catch-up," she said. "So we have to bounce back for tomorrow and come into the game more confident."
For England, Rachel Dunn netted 38 goals from 47 attempts while Pamela Cookey scored 15 from 19.

Jamaica's Davis scored 22 from 26, Forbes contributed nine from 17, while Aiken had six from seven.

The second Test will be played today at 6:30 at the same venue.

Rating the Sunshine Girls (out of 10)

ELAINE DAVIS, GS (7) - As captain, she demonstrated good leadership skills and controlled shooting circle well.
SIMONE FORBES, GA (7.5) - Good court movement and assisted well in circle.

ROMELDA AIKEN, GS (5) - Did not use height advantage to get into good position in shooting circle and this resulted in less attempts at goal

NADINE BRYAN, WA (6.5) - Used her speed well on court, but was unavailable at times to carry ball down court.

Peter-gay Thomas, C (5) - Made too many errors in mid-court as centre.

Nichala Gibson, WD (6) - Marked very well but was inconsistent in her play. Capable of better performance.

Kasey Evering, GD (8) - The workhorse of the team's defence. Managed interceptions well and helped in carrying ball down-court.

Nicole Aiken, GK (5.5 )- Very inconsistent in marking shooter Rachel Dunn, which allowed consecutive baskets.

Marion Campbell, WA (5) - Her short time on court did not allow her to show true potential.

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