ENGLAND have got its series against Jamaica off to a great start, defeating the Sunshine Girls 73 to 52.
Jamaica got off to the better start, but the English really turned it around in the second half to take the win.
It was a fast paced start to the first quarter, but a great one for the Jamaicans.
They raced out to a four goal lead before the Roses got one on the board.
Despite missing key individuals from their defensive end, it did not matter for the Jamaicans as they were still able to still able to turnover plenty of ball.
At times England was ‘spending a penny before it earned one’, playing too fast for its own good.
Jamaica’s lead was as much as eight goals, and even though England was able to peg a few back in the final few minutes it still went into the first break six goals down.
The trend continued in the second quarter, and you would be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu.
The start of the quarter belonged to Jamaica, as some strong shooting from Jhaniele Fowler and the Sunshine Girls capitalising on some silly English mistakes saw the Jamaican lead restored to eight.
However, inspired by some stellar intercept work from Layla Guscoth saw England kick into gear and really cut into the deficit.
Jamaica was able to stem the tide a little, but at the main break the margin was down to only three.
The third quarter began much more evenly then either of the first two quarters had.
However, the Jamaicans in particular were making a lot more silly errors, and England was able to really capitalise, completely erasing Jamaica’s lead inside the opening five minutes of the quarter.
Jade Clarke and Imogen Allison really instigated the defensive lift from the English, and before they knew it the lead was theirs.
The lead changed hands a few times in the final couple of minutes, but ultimately as the teams went into the final break the lead belonged to the home side, to the tune of two goals.
After the final break, England continued from where it left off and continued to grow its lead even further.
Spearheaded by Funmi Fadoju, England had quite a revival and looked a level above the Jamaicans.
The Jamaicans stopped scoring and made simple mistakes as Helen Housby and Jo Harten made sure the home side capitalised on the scoreboard.
There was very little the likes of Kadie-Ann Dehaney could do as the Roses really ran away with the match.
In the earlier match the English A side defeated Scotland 62 to 44.
England 13 | 18 | 18 | 24 (73)
Jamaica 19 | 15 | 13 | 5 (52)
Starting Sevens
England
GS: Jo Harten
GA: Helen Housby
WA: Natalie Metcalf
C: Jade Clarke
WD: Imogen Allison
GD: Layla Guscoth
GK: Funmi Fadoju
Jamaica
GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Shanice Beckford
WA: Khadijah Williams
C: Nicole Dixon-Rochester
WD: Crystal Plummer
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney
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