England beat Scotiabank in practice match

England’s netballers began their tour of Jamaica on a successful note last night by defeating Business House Open League champions Scotiabank 35-26 at the G.C. Foster College in Spanish Town.



England, ranked third in the world, took the first quarter 13-18, the second 20-16 and the third 30-22 on their way to victory.



Goal shooter Rachel Dunn led England with a game-high 15 goals from 22 attempts. She was supported by Jo Hasten with 11 from 20, goal attack Pamela Cookey with six from five and Rosie Allison four from eight.



For Scotiabank, goal shooter Marsha Murphy ended with 20 goals from 24 attempts, Goal attack Viola Francis had four from nine, Christina Morgan one from one and Tanisha Hibbert one from one.



The match is the only practice game for England ahead of the two-match National Commercial Bank Sunshine Series against fourth ranked Jamaica, which serves off tomorrow at the National Indoor Sports Centre.



England’s coach Maggie Jackson says the practice match was very important as the players learned quite a lot about the Jamaican style of play.



However, she was not pleased with the performance during the last quarter in which the team had only five goals.