Sunshine Girls Head Coach Connie Francis is considering making changes to the team’s mid-court ahead of the second Test between Jamaica and England on December 4.
This as she believes turnovers, especially those in mid-court was among the key factors contributing to why Jamaica lost 45-55 to England’s Roses on Sunday after having held a lead over the home team for the first half of their contest at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Jamaica led 27-25 at half-time but was outscored 16-9 and 14-10, in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as England surged to a commanding victory.
Speaking with Sportsmax.TV after the team arrived in Nottingham on Monday, Francis also said the Sunshine Girls lacked match fitness and as a result, were not at their best in the second half. She also takes some of the blame for not adjusting to a few tactical changes England made during the game.
Notwithstanding those issues, Francis believes England are in a much better place than her team at this juncture.
“England right now is a better-conditioned team than us. They are an in-form team coming off a successful tour in New Zealand and they have a really good squad. Nevertheless, we took a really good squad but we have some players in our group that have not been playing netball for 18 months,” she said.
“So, for one, I don’t think we have reached our fitness goals as yet and, two, we lost our focus because we should have gone out there and capitalized in that third quarter.”
That said, Francis revealed that they are going back to the proverbial drawing board as they begin preparing to correct the errors made in the opening match of the three-Test series.
“We are in Nottingham now and we are going to a training session. Tomorrow we have another training session, we have a video session, so we have some days to also try some new persons in that mid-court area because at times I think out mid-court is a little too stagnant,” Francis said.
“Trying to get some players who have been there done that to add to that rotation and that didn’t help so it’s about moving out some other players from their comfort zone into that mid-court to see if we can get some more height and strength in because I think that having 27 turnovers wasn’t good enough and most of them were in that mid-court.
“If we had fixed some of those passes, some of those through-court plays, those feeds into our shooters then it was possible (the result) would have gone the other way around.”
Where Francis blames herself is that she didn’t react adequately to personnel changes England made in goal attack and goalkeeper positions, which made a significant difference.
“I think that possibly I could have done something a little different because when I looked at the tape I see where they had made a tactical change and I tried to fix it but it just didn’t happen,” she said.
“I thought that our defending team stood up extremely well for the most part but when England made those crucial changes and instruction was given, we didn’t rise to the instruction. So we are going back to the drawing board looking at where we have gone wrong and try to fix it.”
Considering the circumstances, Francis said she was proud of her team’s performance on Sunday.
“I am really proud of the girls and their effort,” she said. “They tried to stay with England for the most part but the continuous unforced errors, we just had to pay for them.”
Games two and three are to be played on December 4 and 5 at the Motor Point Arena.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Fowler headlines strong Sunshine Girls squad to Vitality Netball World Cup
Jhaniele Fowler, one of the most imposing and skillful shooters in Netball, headlines a strong 15-member Sunshine Girls squad to the highly anticipated Vitality Netball World Cup in South Africa later this year.
The Jamaicans, ranked number four in the world, will be hoping to improve on their disappointing fifth-place finish at the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool, with 10 players from that squad being retained for this year’s showpiece, scheduled for July 28 to August 6.
Expectations are high that the formidable mix of seasoned veterans, including Romelda Aiken-George, who recently returned from giving birth, and rising stars, such as Crystal Plummer, Kimone Shaw, Abigale Sutherland and Latanya Wilson, who have proven their mettle on previous occasions, will deliver exceptional results.
They will seek to add a gold or silver to the country’s three World Cup bronze medals won in 1991, 2003 and 2007.
Head coach Connie Francis, who will be assisted by Keyan Murdock, is anticipating a successful campaign with her team.
“All the players have been doing their work and are presenting well. The strength in depth of quality of players we now have at our disposal, fighting to get on court for the Sunshine Girls makes the selectors job very challenging and makes Jamaica a big threat to the top three countries going into the World Cup this summer,” said Francis.
“We have seven ladies currently playing in the Suncorp League and dominating the statistics at both ends of the court and locally we have our attacking core which includes three players who are making their third World Cup appearance,” she noted.
Specialist Coach Rob Wright, who will spearhead the team's strategic preparations, is also a part of the coaching staff.
Netball Jamaica President Tricia Robinson expressed sincere gratitude to all sponsors for their invaluable contributions in ensuring $41 million of the required $51 million for the team’s participation, is already in the bag.
This, she said emphasizes the critical role they play in helping Jamaica's netball team prepare for the World Cup.
“The support of our sponsors enables the team to focus on achieving greatness and represents our collective effort to elevate the sport to its rightful status with an elite world ranked team within the Nation’s sporting greats,” said Robinson.
The team will depart for their final training camp in South Africa on July 14, before bowing into World Cup action on July 28.
Squad: Romelda Aiken-George, Shanice Beckford, Jhaniele Fowler, Shimona Nelson, Rebecca Robinson, Nicole Dixon-Rochester, Crystal Plummer, Abigale Sutherland, Adean Thomas, Khadijah Williams, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Kimone Shaw, Shamera Sterling, Jodi-Ann Ward, Latanya Wilson
Shimona Nelson scores perfect 44 as Magpies upset Thunderbirds 53-50; Aiken George's Swifts beat GIANTS to go top
Adelaide Thunderbirds suffered their third loss of the season and have fallen to second place when they went down 53-50 to bottom-placed Collingwood Magpies on Saturday.
Shimona Nelson scored 44 goals and Sophie Garbin nine, in a 100 per cent shooting effort as the Magpies in their final season in the Suncorp Super Netball league overcame the defensive efforts of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.
Collingwood led 16-12 after the first quarter and held a 27-23 lead at half time.
Collingwood widened their lead with another 16-12 effort in the third quarter and held on for the win despite a fourth-quarter rally from Thunderbirds who outscored Collinwood 15-10.
Eleanor Cardwell scored 27 goals from 29 attempts in the loss that saw Thunderbirds’ record fall to second place in the league table with eight wins, one draw and three losses this season.
The new league leaders are the New South Wales Swifts who defeated GIANTS 68-63 thanks in part to Romelda Aikens-George’s 32 goals from 39 attempts and Helen Housby’s 100 percent shooting for 18 goals.
Matisse Leatherbarrow and Jo Harten each scored 13 goals while Sophie Dwyer had 11 from 13 in the losing cause.
The Swifts now boast a record of nine wins, one draw and two losses after 12 rounds.
In the other game on Saturday, Queensland Firebirds defeated Melboune Vixens 76-71.
Fowler scores 5000th goal to lead West Coast Fever to 69-65 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning
Jamaican goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler scored her 5000th Suncorp Super Netball league goal as her West Coast Fever narrowly came out 69-65 winners over the Sunshine Coast Lightning on Saturday.
Fowler converted 19 of her team’s first 20 goals in the first quarter as the Fever built a seven-point lead entering the second period.
The Lightning then had an improved showing in the second quarter, eventually losing 14-17 to enter halftime facing a 27-37 deficit.
The lead built by the Fever proved to be extremely important as the Lightning came out blazing in the second half winning the third and fourth quarters by six points, eventually coming up just four points shy of their opponents at the end of proceedings.
In total, Fowler converted 54 goals from 58 attempts to keep the defending champions third in the table on 32 points, two behind the Adelaide Thunderbirds and New South Wales Swifts, from 12 games.
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