Francis hails Sunshine Girls

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Connie Francis, head coach of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, said Friday's series-levelling victory over arch-rivals England was a big psychological boost for her team ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Delhi, India.

The Sunshine Girls gave a gutsy performance to defeat the English netballers 52-45 in the final match of their National Commercial Bank Sunshine Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre. The victory also ended the Girls' six-match losing streak.

"This is a confidence booster for us because what I like with this team is that they recognised their mistakes from the opening game and they made adjustments," said Francis after Friday's game. "We know what we are capable of doing, and it is for us to go back and keep the same focus at all times because we can't afford to relax, especially at the Commonwealth Games," she said.

"This is the start of our readiness for the Commonwealth Games and we just have to reinforce our aggression and confidence. We have to keep practising on our set plays and we have to keep our fitness up," she added.

Francis praised the team for playing with a lot of guts and determination for the entire match.

"It was an excellent performance because the girls were focused and they know that after watching the tape of first match that they were better than England," Francis said. She added that the Jamaicans played with a lot more energy and aggression, which was lacking in their opening defeat to the English on Wednesday.

Goal shooter Romelda Aiken found her best form to top-score for the Sunshine Girls with a game-high 38 goals from 47 attempts, and received support from captain Simone Forbes, 13 goals from 15 tries.

Pamela Cookey, 27 goals from 33 attempts, and Jo Harten, 18 goals from 26 attempts, were the leading scorers for England.

Maggie Jackson, coach of England, was naturally disappointed with the defeat.

"It was very disappointing for us because this is not a win and we made too many errors every time we were coming back into the match," said Jackson.

"All credit to Jamaica for putting out a strong game tonight, but we just have to now go back and work much harder before the Common-wealth Games," she added.