Bermuda had an impressive opening win in the Netball Europe Open in Aberdeen, Scotland, beating Israel 70-28.

Goal shooter Danielle Raynor led the scoring with 37 goals, nine more than Israel’s total, while Talia Lucas scored 18 and Jahtuere Trott 15 as Bermuda dominated their opponents yesterday.

After the first 15 minutes, Bermuda were leading 16-6, a lead they extended to 32-15 at the half before going on to score 38 more goals in the last two quarters.

The meeting with Israel is the first of two for Bermuda after Switzerland were a late withdrawal. Bermuda will also play Gibraltar and Ireland in the invitational section.

Bermuda head coach Ilze Gideons was happy with the team’s performance after a nervous start.

“They had little jitters but once we got rid of those we finished really strong and were able to look at our combinations,” she said. “I’m really proud of the girls, they’ve only been working together since February.”

Gideons singled out two of the youngest players, Inshannae Smith and Micah Pond, for special praise.

“Birthday girl Inshannae, who led the defence today, made a huge impact as well as young Micah,” she said.

Anthony Mouchette, the assistant coach, added: “We started off really well and got the momentum going. We were a bit nervous at the beginning but eventually we came into our own game and played well.

“It was just a matter of slowing the game down and playing Bermuda netball. The shooters played really well, Danielle, Talia and Jahtuere and we can only move forward from here.”

Bermuda will play two matches today, against the Republic of Ireland at 11am Scotland time, and then at 5pm against Gibraltar.

They face Israel for a second time early tomorrow morning.