- St. James High hold off Green Pond
Noelita Lawrence-Ricketts
Play in the Inter Secondary Schools Association (ISSA) Rural Area Under-16 and 19 Netball Competition continues tomorrow, Tuesday, October 8, with Zone ‘B’ set to come alive with the big Trewlany derby set to unfold at the home of Muschett High.
The bitter parish rivals will be in search of their first win of the season when they take the court for the blast of the opening whistle.
The slow-starting Muschett will be gunning for a first win in three starts, and will be gunning to halt a string of two successive defeats while their rivals, William Knibb, are down to open their account in what will be their first time on court this campaign.
The last round of games before the start of the weekend provided loads of excitement for those on hand to witness the showdown involving St. James High, and the new western powerhouse Green Pond High in a junior showdown.
The battle, which saw both teams walking away sharing the spoils in an enthralling 14-14 tie, took place at the Montego Bay Cricket Club on Thursday afternoon.
In an absorbing match-up officiated by veteran and well-rated officials, Gina Haughton and Omroy Kerr, both Green Pond, who started fast, and their hosts shared eight goals down the middle as the opening 10 minutes ended 4-4.
St. James, with a sterling defensive display and the Green Pond shooters tottering somewhat, surged to a slight lead going into the halftime break, surging for five goals to four by their opponents as they went into the break with a narrow one-goal advantage, holding a 10-9 lead.
At the resumption, both teams struggled in the shooting third and failed to maintain possession of the ball, with both kept of the score sheet for the opening five minutes, despite getting good looks at the net.
Clad in their familiar green and yellow outfit, Green Pond High, who were far from their usual slickpassing self, had a spell of ball possession under the net but failed to convert on any of the nine attempts at goal, most coming directly from underneath and very close range.
The Jacinth Carey-coached Green Pond regained their composure towards the close of the penultimate quarter, rallying to sink five goals to St. James’ three to take a slender 13-12 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.
With the game on an edge and both teams faltering, struggling to maintain their form and possession, St. James High utilized two of their five looks at the net to force their visitors on the back foot and snatch the draw.
St. James High, who saw their inspirational goal defense suffer a knee injury and was forced off the court bleeding, tottered at the back in the closing stages but managed to drop in two goals to Green Pond High’s one as they claimed a first point from their opponents.
Green Pond had the chance to steal the win, but they were stopped by sterling defensive display by the St. James High team and poor finishing from their shooters who, at times, appeared indecisive.
Green Pond High’s coach, Carey, was left incensed at the blast of the final whistle, saying some non-calls late on affected her team and cost them the game.
Green Pond will be back in action on October 9 when they host Irwin while St. James High take on Cambridge on Friday, October 11.
In other games, former western powerhouse, Herbert Morrison Technical High (HMTHS), rushed past Muschett 20-6 in an unimpressive display and Cambridge after a heavy defeat, returned in emphatic fashion, bombarding hapless Hopewell 45-1, the latter scoring their first goal of the competition.