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The She Cranes were given a reality check by hosts Wales who beat them 57-45 in their first of three test matches played Wednesday, January 10, in Cardiff. 

It was a humbling defeat for Uganda who were dominated from the first to the fourth quarter by The Feathers whose goal-shooter Georgia Rowe was unplayable throughout the entire match. 

Rowe gave Uganda's defence of Faridah Kadondi (GK) and Christine Nakitto (GD) a tough evening trying to defend against her shooting prowess and height which all played to her advantage. 

Coach Fred Mugerwa was left with no choice but to deploy Kadondi as goalkeeper after his first choice in that position Hannisha Muhammad failed to join the team because her club refused to release her. 

Mary Nuba and captain Irene Eyaru started as goal shooter and attacker respectively but they were frustrated by the excellent goalkeeping of Ella Powell for the Welsh. 

Wales led the first and second quarters by a small margin of 14-12 and 27-23 respectively and this had Mugerwa hoping his side would get back into the contest in the second half. 

But this never became a reality as the Feathers continued with their dominance in the third quarter which they won by 42-34. 

Uganda started the fourth quarter on a high and cut the deficit to only four goals with plenty of time still to play. 

But as the clock ticked down, individual mistakes possibly due to fatigue were witnessed on Uganda's side which Wales exploited to end up winning the match convincingly with a 12-goal difference. 

The win was celebrated intensely by Wales who exacted the perfect revenge for their 73-56 loss to Uganda five months ago in Cape Town, South Africa in the Netball World Cup. 

Uganda will return to the House of Sports court on Friday and Saturday for the second and third test series respectively against Wales. 

Uganda is using the series to prepare for the Vitality Netball Nations Cup which starts on January 20 this month in England where they will face the hosts, New Zealand, and Australia.