Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's Sunshine Girls failed in their bid to record a series victory over arch-rivals England, after they were beaten 62-58 in their deciding game of the three-Test contest in London, England, yesterday.

The Oberon Pitterson-Nattie-coached Jamaicans lost the series 2-1 and are now in danger of losing their third-place ranking to England, who are ranked one place below them.

Goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler produced an outstanding shooting display for the Sunshine Girls, netting 45 goals from 46 attempts.

Fowler, who represents Waul-grovians in the Jamaica Netball Association/Berger Paints Super League, received good support from fellow shooters Romelda Aiken, who came off the bench to score eight goals from 10 attempts, and Ann-Kay Griffiths, who added five goals from eight tries.

England were led by Jo Harten, who netted 41 goals from 44 attempts, and Pamela Cookey, 21 goals from 23 tries.

The Sunshine Girls began the match confidently as they battled to an exciting 15-15 first-quarter tie.

However, they were outplayed in the second stanza by England, who outscored them 19-15 to take a 34-30 lead at half-time.

The Sunshine Girls fought gallantly in third quarter to reduce the deficit by one goal as Fowler netted 11 goals from 12 attempts and Aiken contributed five from six tries. Jamaica trailed 49-46 at the end of third period.

In an interview by phone, Pitterson-Nattie told The Gleaner that her team was "excellent", but made some poor decisions at crucial stages of game, which resulted in their demise.

"The ladies played excellently, but it's just that we weren't able to finish it off because we came really close towards the end," said Pitterson-Nattie.

"I think throughout the game we had some moments where we made poor decisions and we just weren't able to keep our composure and seal it."

She added: "It was our game, but it was just poor decisions that really cost us the game."

The Sunshine Girls, who are scheduled to arrive in the island today, will now turn their attention to the World FastNet Championships, which will be held in New Zealand in November.