Jamaica AFNA Champions 2008

Congratulations to Jamaica, AFNA Champions 2008.

It was not the strongest Jamaica team that was ever fielded.  In fact one might argue that it is the weakest senior team Jamaica has fielded for a long time, however what was important is that they got the job done.  This Jamaica second side was able to dispatch all the teams in the competition which is tell tale to the distance between the "Sunshine Girls" and the rest of the teams in the Americas.

The conductor/director/playmaker for  Jamaica clearly was their captain Simone Forbes.   Discipline aside or lack thereof, Forbes was in a class of her own in the competition.  Yes the team beat St. Lucia without her, but this was the first day of competition and the St. Lucian side was not very strong in this competition.  

The game between Trinidad may however been another story without her leadership and cunning.  Forbes challenged all the rules in the book.  She played the controversial hitting the goal pole with the ball on a throw in and retrieving it herself in nearly every game, which of course made the spectators roar as this play, although legitimate, looks very suspect.  

A real positive for Jamaica, they have a number of very talented young players on the way up who should ensure Jamaica's netball dominance in the future.  This was evident in the defensive area where the tough young players Tracy Robinson and Nicole Aiken held their own, succeeding in ensuring that their team had the best defensive record of just allowing 169 attempts to the opposition, an average of just 27 goals a game.

Another future bright spark for Jamaica was their 6ft shooter Crystal Gordan who ended 9th overall in shooting average.  She scored 103 from 125.  Christina Solmon was 8th scoring 66 from 80 and Forbes was 7th netting 91 of 110.

Stats

286 goals for, 126 goals against.  350 attempts for, 169 attempts against, goal difference 160, goal average 2.27.  Shooting accuracy 81.71%

Trinidad 2nd Place AFNA 2008

Trinidad and Tobago arrived for business and dispatched one of their chief rivals Barbados in their very first game. All the other games were a matter of course except for their final game against defending champions Jamaica.
In this games the subtle Trini flaws were exposed - their shooters inaccuracy and the holes in their defence. Trinidad moved the ball well, and were very explosive through the centre court, their main shooters Anastacia Wilson and Joelisa Cooper however struggled with their accuracy.

In fact the attacking players did so well in servicing the goal circle that Wilson had the most attempts of all the shooters in the competition, 179 and scored 150, she was 4th in the top ten shooters with 83.80 accuracy.

Cooper was 18th, however substitute shooter Samantha Wallace managed to hold on to the 10th position scoring 30 of 38 for 78.95%.

The exciting competitive play that was expected from Trinidad in the finals did not materialise. Jamaica out played, out hustled and easily dispatched them leaving the coaches to go back to the drawing board.

Statistics

241 goals for, 190 goals against, 313 attempts for, 250 attempts against, goal diference 51, goal average 1.27, accuracy 77%.

Barbados 3rd Place AFNA 2008

Barbados gave an overall solid performance to finish in third spot in the AFNA 2008 Championships.  The team had moments of brilliance throughout the tournament but lacked consistency.  The country's shooters were the most accurate in the tournament but were under serviced, all the attacking passers struggled to find the correct pass in to the shooters. Against Trinidad for example Barbados looked evenly matched however they were not able to get the ball in the hands of the shooters losing it somewhere in their attacking third.

The Barbadian defenses held their own.  Between Rhe-ann Niles and school girl Jeneice Clarke the country should have a good start to an under 23 team for next year's championships.

Barbados had their toughest matches early in the competition and by the time they reached their last match against Canada, the team, bruised and with a number of injuries just went through the motions doing just enough to win the game.  

The Bajans however exhibited enough talent to look set to move to the next level. A lot of work would have to be done however by the coaching staff.

Lydia Bishop was the most accurate shooter in the competition, she netted 69 of her 76 attempts for 90.79% accuracy while Laurel Browne was in second place scoring 113 of 129 for 87.60%.  Nikita Piggott also made it to the top ten, she finished 6th among the shooters scoring 54 0f 65 for 83.08%. 

Statistics

236 goals for, 216 goals against, 270 attempts, 287 attempts against, goal difference 20, goal average 1.09 and accuracy 87.41%. 

St. Lucia 4th Place AFNA 2008

St. Lucia had a tough draw in the Championships playing Jamaica and Trinidad right off the bat, but the Lucians were gritty soaking up all their challenges, including some tough sending offs to make the best of what was a harsh tournament for the unseeded Caribbean side.  

There was no Grenada, Dominica or Antigua for example to rub shoulders with, instead the Lucians were faced with the Caribbean's best.  

St. Lucia however can be considered a bridesmaid of Caribbean netball as on several occasions they looked set to take over the top teams but would never actualise.  On this occasion they would however come out of the competition with a feather in their cap, the scalp of  St. Vincent.  

It was a hard fought and well deserved victory that guaranteed them a fourth place finish in the competition.  Their other victory was against Canada.  Shem Maxwell who is St. Lucia's best shooter and arguably the best player on the team, finished 5th overall in shooting accuracy.   She had 138 attempts and scored 115 of her country's 172 goals.  Her accuracy was 83.33%.

Stats- 171 goals for, 237 against, 230 attempts for 309 attempts against.  Goal difference -65, goal average 0.73 accuracy 74.78%. 

St. Vincent & the Grenadines 5th Place AFNA 2008

St. Vincent and the Grenadines must be the most disappointed team in the AFNA 2008 Championships.

Playing with home court advantage, this former CNA and OECS Champion's performance left a lot to be desired to the dismay of their fans.   

They went into the archives and brought out Skiddy Francis-Crick, a national netball legend, Francis Crick however looked better on paper than on the court.

The only victory that they could swing was against Canada on the first day.  Maybe even this script might have been different if they had met the steadily improved Canadian team later in the competition. 

 

Stats- St. Vincent scored 179 goals had 231 scored against, had 228 attempts and 303 attempts against.  Their goal difference was -52 and goal average 0.77  with an accuracy of 78.51.  They came out of the competition in 5th position with just 2 points.

Skiddy Francis Crick however managed to finish 3rd overall in the tournament shooters.  Playing mostly half of the games or a quarter in some instances she scored 59 of 69 attempts for her 85.51% accuracy.

St. Vincent had no other shooters in the top ten but Leena Lewis and Joanna Christopher were 12th and 13th overall respectively.