England take first blood

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls were no match for England last night and suffered a 53-42 defeat in the opening match of their two-test National Commercial Bank Sunshine Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.



It was Jamaica’s sixth straight defeat. The Jamaicans suffered five straight defeats Down Under last month. The Sunshine Girls were thrashed 3-0 by world number one Australia before suffering a 2-0 defeat to world number two New Zealand.



On their way to victory, third-ranked England won the first quarter 13-10, the second 27-19 and the third 41-28.



Goal shooter Romelda Aikens led Jamaica with 13 goals from 14 attempts, Jhanelle Fowler had 19 from 21, goal attack Simone Forbes scored seven from nine and goal attack Anna-Kay Griffiths had three for eight.



For England, goal attack Pamela Cookey scored a game-high 24 goals from 32 attempts. She was supported by goal shooter Jo Hasten with 23 from 28 attempts and Rachel Dunn 6 from eight.



The second and final game will take place tomorrow at the same venue.



The teams are using the series as preparation for the Commonwealth Games in India next month.