Jamaica's Sunshine Girls beat Australia

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

THE deafening roar that greeted the final whistle told the tale, as Jamaica's Sunshine Girls registered one of their best performances in recent history, to beat Australia 54-51 inside the National Indoor Sports Centre last night and level their three-Test Supreme Ventures Sunshine Series 1-1.

It was truly an exceptional performance from the girls, who in the process registered only their seventh win against the world number one-ranked Australians. And their compatriots, who packed the venue in a virtual sea of yellow, in anticipation of a long overdue win, following Friday's night's 49-49 draw.

The Australians had won the first game 63-51.

Romelda Aiken led the scoring yesterday with 33 goals from 35 attempts, while Simone Forbes supported well with 19 from 21. The Australians used four different shooters and despite outshooting the Jamaicans 75-59, Kate Beveridge and Natalie Medhurst's equal offerings of 13 from 16 were the best that they could manage.

Usual direction

Things seemed to be heading in its usual direction at the onset, with the Jamaicans turning over the ball far too often. The Jamaicans had five turnovers in the first four minutes and 13 in the first half. That was, however, corrected as the game wore on as the team went on to post just 16 turnovers, a near miracle given the lapses in the opening period.

This lower-than-normal turnover rate as well as some serious aggression and grit are factors head coach Connie Francis believes led to the victory.

"At the half time we realised that the players who were making the errors could fix it, these were veteran players and they made the necessary adjustments as the game wore on," said Francis. "It was a fantastic game, I knew that we had it in our ability to win. Our players worked well as a unit tonight and I must commend them for a fantastic effort."

Francis continued: "Everybody made a contribution, we were composed ... they showed a lot of pride and energy despite all the challenges and critique that they have endured."

With five minutes played, the Jamaicans took a 4-3 lead and held the one-point advantage on their centre pass until the six-minute mark when Australia's Sharelle McMahon secured her own rebound to give the visitors a 9-8 lead before, returning to score again. Both teams traded a few jabs in the closing moments, but the Aussies closed the quarter with a 15-14 advantage.

Second quarter

The Jamaicans came out firing in the second quarter as starting goal defence and goalkeeper Althea Byfield and Malysha Kelly, respectively, were replaced by Kasey Evering and Nicole Aiken.

The Jamaicans started the quarter brightly, putting up three unanswered goals to race to a 17-15 scoreline within the first two minutes of the restart and the Amazon-like Evering was definitely making her presence felt, just ask McMahon, who was on the receiving end of a few hard challenges by the new ANZ export. Evering and Aiken formed an almost impenetrable wall, disrupting the Australians' crisp-passing game and pulling down a string of important rebounds; it was a defensive clinic.

At the other end, Romelda Aiken was busy chalking up her stats with another dominating display, pulling along with her young goal attack, Anna-Kay Griffiths, who played a cameo role for the tired Simone Forbes. The Jamaicans led throughout the period and enjoyed a five-point lead for large spells, closing the quarter 30-25 in their favour.

Third quarter

The Australians stormed back in the third quarter, outscoring the Jamaicans 13-10 to close within touching distance; 40-38 to the Jamaicans.

The final quarter was truly not for the faint-hearted as both teams went for the jugular. It was all-or-nothing and it was clear that neither set of players was willing to surrender. There was precious little to separate them throughout until Aiken and Forbes struck two telling blows with just under three minutes to play, to open up a four-point advantage for the Sunshine Girls.

With the seconds ticking away, the Jamaicans maintained their composure and possession of the ball to secure a much-needed confidence-booster ahead of this summer's World Netball Championships.

Australia's head coach, Norma Plummer, assessed the damage.

"It was a great contest, I think Jamaica deserved the win. We were coming back into the game, got a few interceptions then threw it away. You have to keep possession of the ball and score and we didn't do that tonight," Plummer reasoned. "The Jamaicans were fantastic, they all played well and deserved their win."