Jamaica's Under-21 netball coach, C. Lloyd Walker, said he expects an improved performance from the junior Sunshine Girls, who suffered a humiliating 60-27 defeat against Australia's Under-21 team in the opening match of their three-Test series.

The second match will be played today at the same venue where they lost on Monday night, at G.C. Foster College, starting at 6 p.m.

"I am expecting a bigger fight on Wednesday," said Walker. "I think that they have learnt a lot from this game and they will be coming out a lot more determined because they now realise what is at stake for them.

Disappointing performance

"I don't think it was a disappointing performance because I believe that we have made progress and the girls have been making strides and we just have to continue to work on our programme," he added.

"We need a lot more games like this and a lot more international exposure because they (Jamaica) started pretty nervous and we went down badly from the first quarter because they lost their nerves," he said.

In the meantime, Australia's coach, Simone McKinnis, said they would be looking to close out the series today.

"We want to make sure that we maintain intensity and focus because it is really important that we don"t just do it once and be able to back-up and do it again in our game," she said.

McKinnis added that she was delighted with their performance.

"I was really pleased with our team's performance because I think that the best part of it was that we got off to an excellent start," McKinnis said.

The junior Sunshine Girls proved no match for the rampant Australians, who crippled the hosts with their tight defence and in the process held Jamaica to just 11goals at half-time, in response to them scoring 29.

Walker then made two substitutions at half-time, when he brought on Patricia McCulla and Yanique Gordon for goal attack Christina Solmon and Sasha-Gaye Lynch. He then moved goalkeeper Crystal Gordon to goal attack and Vanessa Walker from wing attack to goal shooter.

The move proved to be a good one for the Jamaicans, as they were a lot more competitive throughout this period, scoring nine goals to the Aussies' 16, as the visitors ended the period with a 45-20 lead.

Caitlin Bassette scored six of her 20 goals in the fourth period as Australia strengthened their advantage over the Jamaicans and romped to an easy victory. Bassette received solid support from Kim Berger, who scored a team-high 25 goals from 33 attempts.

Crystal Gordon, with 12 goals from 15 attempts, and Jhaniele Fowler, eight goals from 10 tries, were the leading scorers for Jamaica.

Both teams are using the series as part of their build-up to the World Youth Cham-pionships, which will be held in the Cook Islands in August.

The final game in the series will be played on Friday at the same venue.