Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's Under-21 netballers suffered their second consecutive series whitewash to their Australian counterparts, as they were beaten 55-39 in the final match in their three-Test series at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine yesterday.

Goal attack Crystal Gordon, with 28 goals from 33 attempts, Jhaniele Fowler, five goals from six tries, and Christina Solmon, with six goals from 11 attempts, scored for the Jamaicans.

Sophie Craft, with 28 goals from 39 tried, Caitlin Bassett, with 21 goals from 27 tries, and Ashlee Howard, who sank nine goals from 12 attempts, scored for Australia.

The junior Sunshine Girls lost the opening match of the series 60-27 and the second game 52-26.

Despite his team's defeat, Jamaica's coach, C. Lloyd Walker, said he was proud of his girls' effort.

Room for improvement

"I think that the players have learnt a lot from this tournament because I believe that we benefitted a lot more from this series than the Australians did," said Walker, who said that he was pleased with his team's performance but indicated there was still a lot of room for improvement.

"We are still making some poor passes, our shooting was off and there is still a lot to be desired, but we are now maintaining a lot more possession of the ball and we played today's game at our own pace, better than we started the tournament," said Walker.

They had lost a three-Test series 3-0 to the Australian Institute of Sports Under-21 team last year.

Jamaica began the match horribly, making six turnovers in the first period, trailing the Australians 17-8 at the end of the quarter.

Play was a lot more even in the second quarter and Australia, which continued to exhibit tight defence and quick one-two passing, marginally outscored the hosts 12-11 for a 29-19 lead at half-time.

Jamaica made one substitution at the half, bringing on wing attack Patricia McCulla to replace Vanessa Walker.

The move quickly paid dividends for the young Sunshine Girls, who controlled the majority of the third stanza with tight defensive and swift off-the-ball movements. In the process, they were able to reduce the deficit to five goals at (34-29), with less than three minutes remaining.

Australia coach Simone McKinnis then called a time-out for a counterstrategy that worked, as the Australians went on to outscore the hosts (5-2) for a 39-31 lead when the penultimate quarter ended.

Victory

Jamaica had no answer for Australia's goal shooter Sophie Craft in the fourth quarter, as she scored nine of her team-high 28 goals in the fourth period. That allowed the visitors to extend their advantage and romp to a comfortable 16-goal victory.

McKinnis, said: "I think this was a tough game for us today because there were times throughout in the match when we were a bit flat and the Jamaicans made the most of these opportunities and put themselves back into the match.

"I also think that we lacked a bit of intensity in parts of the match, but I think we came back and fought it out well to win the match," added McKinnis.