Sunshine Girls 'not there yet' - McIntosh states need to improve levels for WNC

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jill McIntosh, technical director of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA), said she was very impressed with the Jamaicans' performances in their 2-1 Supreme Ventures Sunshine Series victory over archrivals England last week.

The series win was a big morale booster for the Jamaicans because it comes shortly before the World Netball Championships (WNC) which will be held in Singapore from July 3 to 10.

It was also the first time since 1998 that the Sunshine Girls were beating the English, who are ranked one place above them at number three in the world rankings, in a three-Test series.

"I am very happy with their performance in this series because I think that there are a lot of positive things that we can take from it," said McIntosh, who is a WNC-winning coach with Australia.

"The players had some good performances in this series and a lot of them stood up, and so it is up to the selectors to sit down and come up with the best 12 players," she said.

However, McIntosh added that it won't be easy for the Jamaicans at the WNC and they will have to step up their performance if the are going to win a medal in Singapore.

"I think they need to work on their trust and confidence in each other in the attack and to use the speed that they have to drive hard throughout the court and to just let the ball flow throughout the game," McIntosh said.

"I think that they are getting there, but they are not there yet because I think they stepped up very well for this series, but they will need to find another level when they go to Singapore," McIntosh said.

The Sunshine Girls won the first game 57-56 and the second 55-53, but they went down 54-51 in the final match of the series.

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The technical director noted that she was disappointed the Jamaicans were unable to close out the series with another win.

"I think that this game tonight (Saturday) proved that they are still not quite there because they really should have nailed it, but they didn't and they allowed England to come very strongly in that first quarter," McIntosh said.

"They were a bit tentative at the start of the game because they allowed England to jump away to a five-goal lead early and that was the difference at the end. I think if they had started the match with the same urgency like they did in the first two games, then it might have been a different result," she pointed out.

McIntosh also stated that she was delighted with the performances of goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler and goal attack Anna-Kay Griffiths.

"I think that she (Fowler) stood up beautifully and she shot very well and I think that Anna-Kay Griffiths fed her very well and was never flustered," McIntosh said. "I think together they are a very good pairing."