Hummingbirds off the mark in Elite League

After a slow start to this year’s Netball Jamaica Seprod Elite League, the Kingston Hummingbirds picked up their first win in the third round with a 48-45 victory over St Catherine Racers at the National Indoor Sports Centre yesterday.

The Hummingbirds’ coach, Nardia Hanson, said her team did a good job holding their nerve to win the hard-fought battle.

“It’s a very good performance, there were times in the game we lost our composure but our game plan today was to just stay disciplined,”Hanson said.

The Racers led the Hummingbirds 9-7 in the first quarter but the Hummingbirds found their rhythm, took control and were in front 23-16 at half-time.

The Racers battled back in the third quarter but the Hummingbirds still had a 35-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.

With a little over seven minutes to go, the scores were level at 40-40 but the Hummingbirds held their composure to emerge narrow winners.

Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, the Racers coach, said, despite the loss, her team did well and they will be ready for the next match.

“ This was a bittersweet one. I thought we started well but we got hindered in that second quarter and I think that is what cost us (the game),” Aiken-Pinnock said.

“I have to give credit to my girls because they really dug deep to get themselves back into this game. So we are just going to go back and keep working on the small stuff. I think that is the most important thing.”

Despite losing, Racers’ Simone Gordon emerged top goalscorer with 30 goals from 40 attempts, while the Hummingbirds’ Tracy Francis was extremely accurate with her shots, getting 29 goals from just 30 attempts.

Four teams are competing in this year’s Seprod Elite League. The other competing teams are defending champions Manchester Spur and St Ann Orchids.

The league returned on March 10, after being absent for more than three years because of a lack of funding and the COVID-19 pandemic.