Sunshine Girls go 0-3 on day one of Fast5 Netball Series in New Zealand

By Sports Desk November 05, 2022

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls ended Friday’s day one of the Fast5 Netball Series at the Christchurch Arena in New Zealand winless after losses to Australia, Uganda and South Africa in their three games.

The first match saw them suffer a 24-goal loss to the mighty Australians, losing the quarters 14-5, 7-4, 9-3 and 9-3 for a total score of 39-15. Romelda Aiken-George scored four goals from six attempts and Gezelle Allison had the same number of goals in four more attempts.

They were then upset 33-22 by Uganda in their second outing.

The Ugandans got out to an early 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 17-7 at halftime. The second half was a lot closer as there was just one goal between the two teams with Uganda winning quarter three 9-8 and the fourth ending 7-7. Amanda Pinkney and Aiken-George combined for nine goals including two three pointers.

The third game was the closest as Jamaica suffered a one-point loss to South Africa after having a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The first quarter saw only five points in total being scored as Jamaica prevailed 3-2 while the second quarter was tied 8-8 meaning the Sunshine Girls led 11-10 at the half.

Jamaica’s lead was then stretched to six after a 12-7 third quarter made it 23-17 before a spirited fourth quarter comeback by the South Africans gave them a 28-27 win. Amanda Pinkney scored eight goals from 13 attempts while Mischa Creary was perfect from her six attempts.  

Jamaica will play England and New Zealand on day two at 12:00pm and 3:45pm local time (6:00pm and 9:45pm on Saturday in Jamaica) in their final two round robin games.

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    “It has been a thrilling season with fantastic performances from all of our teams. This is a testament to all the hard work and dedication that has been put in over the season and I am proud to see such wonderful talents on display,” Grange said during the closing ceremony at the National Arena.

    “In addition to the prize money, twenty (20) football students (male and female) will be offered the opportunity to attend a one-week football camp to be hosted by the Spanish club OSASUNA from April 8-17 at the Barbican AstroTurf,” she shared.

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    The INSPORTS competitions – arguably the best of their kind anywhere in the region – started in December 2023 with 280 schools involving 4,200 kids in netball and 5,600 in football of which 560 were girls, as each team needed to have 2 girls.

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    St Patrick’s Primary 23 vs Bethabara Primary 21

    White Horses 20 vs Corinaldi Primary 17

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    Port Antonio 0 vs Holland 0 (Port Antonio won 3-1 on penalties)

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