Suns make it a golden sweep with game three win
JAMAICA has made a clean sweep of their Test Series against the English Thorns, winning game three 43 goals to 36.
In the tightest of the three test matches, the Suns ultimately pulled away late in the last quarter to take the win.
There were plenty of intercepts early from both sides as the defenders in particular were really alert and on the case from the get go.
England was the first to pinch a goal off the opposition centre though, and consolidated off its following centre pass to take the early lead.
However it could not maintain the lead for the whole quarter as the Jamaicans levelled with about five minutes left in the term and subsequently took the lead.
With 25 seconds to go though England levelled things back up again, but a late goal to the Jamaicans saw the Suns take a one goal lead into quarter time.
The beginning of the second quarter really belonged to the Jamaicans and suddenly their lead was out to five goals.
The English then changed up their midcourt a bit – including moving skipper James Thomson-Boston back to wing defence – which seemed to help somewhat.
They got within three goals but then Jamaica settled and re-established its lead.
Jamaica’s lead was four goals at the main break after getting out to as much as five during the second quarter. It was off the back of some stellar defensive work from Ramon Parkes and Aniffe Foster that Jamaica were able to have that lead.
It was also a fiery opening half to the game, with five cautions and over 50 penalties between the sides.
After an even start to the third term, the English kicked to gear and got within two goals of their visitors. The Thorns kept building and got even closer to levelling things up but could not quite catch the Jamaicans.
Things then took a turn for the Jamaicans when Ragjhon Brown had to come off with an injury.
With a goal from Ky Lewis off the back of some clever Tommy Wiseman trickery, the English drew back level with four minutes to go in the quarter.
Although the Thorns could not take the lead outright, the exploits of Kareem Brown were really helping keep the Thorns in the match.
Though with one late goal, the Jamaicans took a single goal lead into the final change.
The final terms started tight but slowly but surely the Jamaicans started to take control of the game and the momentum.
There were a lot of turnovers in the final quarter from both sides, but crucially for Jamaica, the Suns seemed to capitalise on their earned turnovers more than the Thorns did.
England continued to tinker with the line up but could not seem to find the right combination.
In the end the Jamaicans proved to be too strong, whitewashing the series.
ENGLAND 8 | 9 | 12 | 7 (36)
JAMAICA 9 | 12 | 9 | 13 (43)
STARTING SEVENS
England
GS: Julien Vincent
GA: Luke Owen
WA: Tommy Wiseman
C: James Thomson-Boston
WD: James O’Connor
GD: James McClelland
GK: Ky Lewis
Jamaica
GS: Raheem Wallace
GA: Richard Hendricks
WA: Kurt Dale
C: Naturi Jackson
WD: Ragjhon Brown
GD: Aniffe Foster
GK: Ramon Parkes