ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY - Sunshine Girls provide Emancipation Day gift with trip back to Commonwealth Games final

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls stand on the brink of history as they prepare to face New Zealand in today’s Commonwealth Games netball final in Glasgow, Scotland, with their sights firmly set on capturing their first-ever gold medal.

The highly anticipated showdown is scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. Jamaica time.

The Sunshine Girls, who won a historic silver medal at the previous Commonwealth Games in Birmingham four years ago, will now be aiming to go one step further when they take on the unbeaten Silver Ferns in what promises to be a thrilling contest.

The Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright-coached Jamaicans booked their place in the championship match with a nail-biting 46-45 victory over world number one and defending champions Australia in yesterday’s semifinal.

Meanwhile, two-time champions New Zealand advanced to their sixth Commonwealth Games final and their first since Glasgow 2014, after getting the better of England 61-54 in the other semi-final contest. The Silver Ferns last won the title at the 2010 Games.

Henry-Wright said the team enjoyed the historic semifinal victory but quickly turned their attention to the task that still lies ahead in today’s final.

“I am feeling excited because we basked in the moment right, but we know that we have a job to compete against New Zealand on Sunday which is to win that gold medal,” said Henry-Wright.

“Words can’t explain how I am feeling. I am just excited and happy that we are in the final because we played Australia in August last year and we got beaten 3-0 Down Under, so things were very tough for us following Hurricane Melissa. But we have managed to stay together and work very hard with little that we have and come out here and beat the big mighty Australia was no easy feat.”

However, Henry-Wright noted that there are still areas her team must improve before taking on the world number-two-ranked New Zealanders today.

“I think we really fell short on our through court against Australia and so we have to fix that against New Zealand in the final but our girls are very determined and therefore I know that we will get it right in this final,” she said.

LEARNED FROM SETBACK

The Sunshine Girls suffered a 53-48 defeat to New Zealand during the preliminary round, but Henry-Wright stated that her players have learned from that setback and are ready for another opportunity.

“It just comes back to just delivering properly and just taking care of the ball and being very disciplined in the midcourt and defence,” she said.

“It is not going to be an easy one because it is going to be a very tough game. We know that they are number two and we are number four in the world, and so to beat the best, we have to be at our best on Sunday.”

“I am just looking forward to how the girls will transition and once they do this, I know that they can come out and deliver for us. It is our chance of getting that first gold medal but I think that it will come down to centre pass by centre pass because we are not going to get ahead of ourselves and so we are going to play for it and just stay focused and just trust and believe in each other,” Henry-Wright pointed out.

Jamaica established the early momentum, leading 13-10 at the end of the opening quarter before taking a narrow 23-21 advantage into halftime.

Australia responded strongly after the break, capitalising on several Jamaican turnovers in the midcourt to outscore the Sunshine Girls 14-12 in the third quarter and level the scores at 35-35 heading into the decisive final period.

The final quarter turned into a tense battle, with veteran goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George leading the Jamaican attack with 29 goals. She received excellent support from the defensive unit of captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, Jodi-Ann Ward, and Latanya Wilson, while Crystal Plummer, Nicola Dixon-Rochester, and Brie Grierson were outstanding in controlling the midcourt.

Jamaica appeared to have the contest under control after opening up a four-goal lead with less than two minutes remaining. However, Australia mounted a late rally and reduced the deficit to a single goal, earning one final opportunity to send the match into extra time. The Australians, however, missed the last shot of the contest, sparking jubilant celebrations among the Jamaican players and supporters. Shanice Beckford also chipped in with 17 goals from 18 attempts for the Sunshine Girls.

Australia’s centre Kate Moloney praised the Sunshine Girls for their outstanding performance. “Really disappointing but credit to Jamaica, they really came out and really gave it to us,” she said. “We probably just didn’t execute the way we needed to.”

Moloney added that her team fell below its usual standards.

“We know that at our best we beat anyone and today we probably just weren’t at our best,” she said. “We will have a look at it and take lots of learnings and come out stronger tomorrow (today).”

Australia will face England in the bronze medal game today.