Sport

Jamalco, Tivoli for Open League battle

Kasey Evering

By PAUL-ANDRE WALKER, Staff Reporter

A REPLAY OF last season's Super League final will await netball fans tomorrow, as Jamalco and Tivoli came away winners in last night's Jamaica National Building Society/ Jamaica Netball Association Open League at the Leila Robinson Courts.

Tivoli, who played in the first semi-final against Windalco, had a tough first half before the former imploded to give the defending champions their first final berth of the season.

Tivoli's 30-24 victory was followed by a one-sided 39-17 victory for Jamalco over Omega.

After the game, Jamalco coach Winston Nevers, who had watched his other charges, Windalco, lose out to Tivoli, was not surprised by the result.

Expected victory

"I expected this victory but I didn't expect to win this easy because Omega has a little more strength in their attacking area from adding Sharmalee Watkins," said Nevers, who was looking forward to the final against Tivoli.

"Tivoli are looking for us to come to the final. I heard the coach say that he really wanted Jamalco to get there. However, I've been looking forward to them getting there too because they have been playing well from last season and they are the defending champions in this league," Nevers added.

In the first semi-final, Tivoli looked to have been in some trouble with Windalco forcing them into errors and not allowing them to play their kind of netball.

However the 10-8 and 15-14 advantages that Windalco had after the first two quarters was reversed in the third with Tivoli bringing on Sabrina Spence at goal shoot to outjump her markers and push her team's tally.

Kasey Evering then came to the show, making a number of crucial defensive stops for Tivoli, who ended the quarter 23-19 leaders. The fourth quarter was a foregone conclusion, as Tivoli continued with their momentum to win comfortably.

The second game was over almost as soon as it started with Jamalco running out 9-3 leaders in the first quarter. They added to that lead in the second quarter to end the half at 17-7.

Going through the motions against an Omega team that tried to play too quickly and had too many turnovers in possession, Jamalco romped to a 28-12 lead in the third quarter.

The comfort of a 16-point lead allowed them to bring 15-year-old Romelda Aiken into the game. The youngster showed ominous signs, using her height to good advantage.

Albeit surrounded by aggressive defenders, she still managed to help her team push the score to 39, with her team-mates easing their foot off the throttle to allow Omega to get to 17 goals on the night.

Tivoli's assistant coach, Terrence Peart, who was in charge of the absent Sylvester Campbell was guarded in responding to what he expected from the final but had this to say:

"We have to keep an open mind and be fair to ourselves. We can win, why not?"