Brown impresses in Girls' victory

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Debutant Naudia Brown put on an impressive second-half display to help Jamaica's Sunshine Girls ease to a 64-36 victory over Caribbean-rivals Trinidad and Tobago in the opening match of their three-Test series on Friday at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine.

The 27-year-old Brown came on at the start of the third quarter, mesmerised the Trinidadian players with her swift off-the-ball movements and clever passing skills, which brought new life into the Sunshine Girls' attack after half-time.

The Jamaicans, who dominated the game from start to finish, led 19-9 at the end of the first period and 35-20 at half-time. The Connie Francis-coached team extended their advantage to 50-28 at the end of the third quarter.

Room for improvement

"I think it was a good performance," Brown said with a broad smile. "I think that there's still a lot of room for improvement because this is my first time playing for the senior team, and so I was a bit nervous," said Brown, who represents Jamalco in the Berger Paints Super League.

"I was getting a lot of support and encouragement from the senior players such as Nadine (Bryan) and Simone (Forbes), and this has helped me stay focused while I was there sitting on the bench in the first half," she said.

Brown, who plays wing attack, is competing for a spot on Jamaica's World Netball Championships (WNC) team with the likes of Sasher-Gaye Henry, Vanessa Walker and Kimone Tulloch. The WNC will be held in June in Singapore.

Brown added that she is confident of making the WNC team, but will have to work much harder on some of her weaknesses.

"I think that I stand a good chance of making the team for the World Championships but I still need to improve on my fitness level in order for me to get myself in top shape for the Championships," Brown said.

She continued: "How-ever, everybody has been working very hard in training to make the team, and so I think that there are tough decisions for the selectors to make whenever they are selecting the team."

Fabulous

Francis said she was very happy with Brown's performance.

"I like the way she uses that attacking third and her placement of the ball," said Francis.

Francis added: "I thought that she was very patient with the ball and she works from defence to attack and that was fabulous."

Goal shooter Jhanelle Fowler led the way for the Jamaicans with 29 goals from 33 attempts. She received solid support from Forbes (17 from 21), Tashana Bloomfield (12 from 15), and Ann-Kay Griffiths (six from seven).

Jonelle Barker was the leading scorer for the Trinidadians with 12 goals from 15 attempts. Barker received support from Anastacia Wilson (eight from 12) and Jellene Richardson (eight from 14).

The second Test was scheduled for last night at GC Foster College while the third and final is set for 1 p.m. today at the same venue.