Williams, Fowler issue warning

Despite remaining unbeaten in their pursuit of a maiden Netball World Cup title, national player Khadijah Williams and captain Jhaniele Fowler have both warned against complacency and the need to stay locked in from the start of games if they are to reach their ultimate goal.

The Sunshine Girls defeated Uganda 61-49 in their opening preliminary stage-two game in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday, putting them on course to qualifying from Pool G as one of the top two teams.

While Jamaica dominated the first half, specifically in the second quarter where they outshot Uganda 23-9, it was the Africans who had a strong third quarter, outscoring the Jamaicans 16-11 and drawing them 12-12 in the final quarter.

Fowler continued her consistent form, netting 28 goals, with Shanice Beckford chipping in with 10 and Romelda Aiken-George with 15. Williams stated that it was not a wake-up call per se because they knew what to expect from their opponents; it was a reminder of the importance of starting on the right foot.

“There are things that we need to work on. But despite that, we managed the physicality of the game. We managed to push through. It isn’t a wake-up call because we knew what to expect from them. But I think going forward, we will work on starting a little bit better, because in the South Africa game and yesterday’s game we started a bit flat,” Williams told The Gleaner.

The Jamaicans turned the ball over 18 times, four more than their win against host nation South Africa on Sunday, and conceded 86 penalties on the day.

Like everyone else, they have played a game every day since Friday’s opening day, but Williams said that it is up to them to increase their concentration levels if they want to secure their place in the last four and beyond.

“We have been prepared physically and we have trained for situations like this. I don’t think it was because we had games back-to-back. I think we need to concentrate a bit more going into the business end of the tournament,” Williams said.

That mantra was echoed by Fowler after the game.

“It was a lot of ebb and flow, a lot of things that we needed to tighten up on. Because we were flat, that’s where the [problems] came in. So we have to make sure that when we start the game, everyone is up and about and we connect,” Fowler said.

Jamaica will have a rest day today before they take on their Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Jamaica time, and reigning champions New Zealand on Thursday to complete Pool G play. The top two teams from Pool G will advance to the semi-finals.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Second group stage

Group F

Team W D L GF GA Pts

Australia 3 0 0 263 107 6

England 3 0 0 196 122 6

Malawi 2 0 1 156 159 4

Tonga 1 0 2 140 208 2

Scotland 0 0 3 123 194 0

Fiji 0 0 3 131 219 0

Group G

Team W D L GF GA Pts

New Zealand 3 0 0 213 105 6

Jamaica 3 0 0 203 138 6

South Africa 2 0 1 179 145 4

Uganda 1 0 2 167 149 2

Wales 0 0 3 124 219 0

Trinidad & Tobago 0 0 3 89 219 0

Stage two format - teams finishing first and second in Pools F and G will go through to the semi-finals, with the top-placed team in each group facing the second-placed team in the other group. The other remaining teams will go on to compete for the final placings, from fifth to 16th.