Bronze medal match a nightmare for Girls

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, India:

In terms of raw statistics, it was one of Jamaica's best games so far at the Commonwealth Games. Turnovers were down and shooting averages were up, but the Sunshine Girls were blown away 70-47 by England in their bronze medal match here at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex on Thursday.

Many anticipated a close and fiery encounter, and while the latter is always a trait of a Jamaica-England clash in netball, the scoreline was anything but close, with the England team running away with a 23-point triumph. Nothing close to the marginal 52-53 loss that the Jamaicans suffered at the hands of the same team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

The first quarter ended as expected, with both teams breathing down each other's neck, England leading at that stage by a single point, 15-14. A number of injuries to key players, poor passing and movement and, well, rather questionable umpiring decisions helped the English to a 33-23 lead. They took the third quarter 50-38 and there was no way back for the dejected Jamaicans.

Gave up

For many, the officials perhaps played a significant role in the final outcome, while for others the Jamaicans simple gave up.

As far as head coach Connie Francis is concerned, it was a little bit of both factors that contributed to the inexplicable ease at which Jamaica were swept aside by their perennial foes. Francis lauded the courage and discipline of the team but felt that the girls were undone by what appeared to be a consistent stream of poor decisions against them.

Francis also pointed out that the team did not help their cause by continually giving away the ball.

"The first quarter was fabulous, I thought that the girls were energetic and focused. In the second quarter there was a lapse in concentration for periods, when we saw some unforced errors and also some questionable, really questionable calls," said Francis. "We had it and we really didn't understand some of the calls.

"In the latter part of the game, I think we could have done better to take care of the ball, but with everything that was happening I think the girls really gave up and it was difficult to get them motivated," Francis added.

Lost motivation

Francis, who rarely questions the performance of officials, also believes that the girls themselves lost motivation as the game wore on, something she stressed must never happen at this level.

"The calls really caused them to lose focus, I think, but guess what, we dropped our shoulders, they really did not understand what was happening but at this level we really must understand that we need to keep our shoulders up and never stop fighting," remarked a visibly disappointed Francis. "I cannot say that this was a game that belonged to us, I really can't say so ... we just have to revisit what we can do in situations like this. We need to be smart and learn how to handle things when calls and stuff like that aren't going our way though," she added.