Hummingbirds beat Racers but miss out on making Elite League’s final

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April 03, 2023

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Hummingbirds Vangelee Williams is presented with the Player-of-the-Match gift by Wisynco Marketing Manager Karen Baugh in the game against Manchester Spurs at the National Arena last night. Hummingbirds won the match 42-35.

It was a battle between the defences in the last preliminary game of the Netball Jamaica Elite League as Kingston Hummingbirds beat St Catherine Racers 42-35 at the National Arena last night.

Both teams had an opportunity of reaching the finals as they were in a three-way tie with St Ann Orchids, who ended on top because of goal difference as they beat defending champions Manchester Spurs 65-49. Spurs and Orchids will meet in the finals.

Despite not making the final two, Hummingbirds' coach Nardia Hanson applauded their effort.

"A win is a win, but at the end of the day, we still have a lot of work to do," she said.

She said it is just a matter of getting ready for the third-place playoff.

"We are just going to go back to the drawing board. We saw some errors on the court that we need to take care of ... hopefully, we can pull it off for the next game," Hanson said.

Racers coach Nicole Aiken-Pinnock said although they lost, they did well.

"It was indeed a real tough game. It was a ding-dong battle right down to that third quarter. We just had a lot of missed shots which cost us the game," she said.

She said while her shooters needed to be more accurate and confident when shooting the ball, she is pleased with their defence.

"The structures that we have in the defence, they are working really well and so we just have to keep that, but then keep working on the small things so that we can be better for the next game."

Racers took the early lead as they led the Hummingbirds eight goals to seven at the end of the first quarter.

Later, the scores were locked at 18-18 at the sound of the halftime whistle, but the Hummingbirds broke loose of the tie to take the lead 28-24 at the end of the third quarter.

Hummingbirds' Tracy-Ann Francis was the top goal scorer with 29 goals from 34 attempts.

Her teammate Vangelee Williams was named Player of the Match.

Hummingbirds and Racers will meet again for the third-place playoff on April 14.

The league's winners will be chosen with the best-of-three matches, scheduled to take place on April 14, 16 and 21 at the National Arena.