England outshoot Scotia in tour opener

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

England netballers recorded a comfortable, but exciting 36-25 victory over Scotiabank 'A' in their warm-up match at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine yesterday.

The English, who are ranked third in the world, dominated the first quarter as they eased to a 13-8 lead.

However, the Winston Nevers-coached Scotiabank, who are this year's Business House Netball Open League champions, outplayed their opponents in the second stanza and in the process, they outscored them 8-7, to lessen the deficit to 20-16 at half-time.

Scotiabank continued their dominance at the start of the third period, as they quickly rallied to cut the deficit to 23-20 midway the quarter, with Marsha Murphy leading the way with four goals, much to the delight of their supporters.

At the other end, Scotia's goalkeeper Kameika Sherwood did an excellent job for her team, as she intercepted a number of passes that were intended for England's goal shooter, Rachel Dunn.

However, the English players used their superior experience, along with their quick passing skills, to fight their way back into the match as they surged away for an increased 30-22 lead at the end of the period.

The Maggie Jackson-coached England team then took advantage of Scotia's sloppy play in the final quarter, as they increased the tempo and in the process coasted home for a comfortable win.

Dunn was the leading scorer for England with 15 goals from 22 attempts, while Jo Harten supported well with 11 goals from 20 tries.

Leading scorer

Murphy was the leading scorer for Scotiabank with 20 goals from 24 attempts.

Jackson was pleased with her team's performance.

"I think it was a good way of getting back into Jamaica's style of play and it was important for us to get this practice match and we have leant quite a lot from it," said Jackson.

England will face Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, who are ranked fourth in the world, in the two-Test National Commercial Bank Sunshine Series, starting tomorrow at the National Indoor Sports Complex.