Sport

Bridge trials loom

As the time for trials to select the Jamaica's national team to the 2011 CAC Championships draws nearer, players not regularly seen on the circuit are forming veteran partnerships and honing their skills for the upcoming preliminary tests. The winner of 2011's all important championships will represent the region in Bridge's World Cup, the Bermuda Bowl, to be held in 2012.

One such pairing is that of Wayne Chai Chong and Dr Michael Coore who won Wednesday night's leg of the David Levy Trophy with a 58.33 per cent round from juniors Michael Marshall and Walter Brown (55.56 per cent) with another veteran pairing, Charles Williams and Calvin Wong (52.78 per cent), third. It was Walter Brown's second top three placing of the week as, playing with another junior, Nicholas Robinson, his 52.35 per cent round was good enough for third place on Monday night behind winners Rex James and Judy Ziadie (65.26 per cent) and second placed Herbert Gauntlett and Maurice Clarke (58.17 per cent).

Cup holders LIMEin BH cricket semis

Defending champions LIME qualified for the semi-finals of the Reggae Jammin 50-over league last Sunday when they defeated OCS Electrical by eight wickets in a top-of-the-table clash at Maxfield Park.

Batting first, OCS Electrical were dismissed for 167 off 37.2 overs - Ryan Edwards 44, Rohan Williams 39; Ryan Francis 6-29. LIME 168 for 2 - Omar Allison 87, Damion Jacobs 58 not out; Delroy Morgan 2-25.

LIME moved to 18 points from eight matches with a match in hand, while OCS Electrical have 17 points from nine matches, the same as Jamaica Broilers with 17 but from eight matches. All three are sure to qualify for the semi-finals, while NWC with 14 points from eight matches could join them.

AT CHALMERS AVENUE: Jamaica Broilers defeated Sagicor by seven wickets. Sagicor 129 all out from 40 overs - Adrian Morton 27, Newton Nelson 21; Fitzroy Bryan 4-11. Fabian Lakeman 3-19. Jamaica Broilers 133 for 3 - Rovman Powell 63 not out, Robert Turner 43; Anthony Wadsworth 2-26.

AT JAMAICA COLLEGE: Digicel beat Continental Baking Company by 59 runs. Digicel 201 all out off 40 overs - Jowayne Robinson 67, Dean Williams 56; Vander Rowe 3-21. Continental Baking Company 142 for eight off 40 overs - Ronville Brown 29; Shamar Anderson 2-26.

AT MICO: The match between home team NHT and NWC was not played as the pitch was not prepared. Points have been awarded to NWC, the visiting team.

The final preliminary round matches will be played tomorrow. These are ,LIME vs Digicel at Chalmers Avenue, Jamaica Broilers vs NWC at Spring Village, JUTC vs NHT at Jose Marti and Continental Baking Company vs Jamalco at Jamaica College, all starting at 10 a.m.

Eagles, Dragonin skittles semis

Eagles and Dragon advanced to the semi-finals of the Dip Invitational Dragon Spitfire/Supreme Ventures seven-a-side skittles competition last Sunday when they scored contrasting quarter final wins at The Dip in Gregory Park.

Unbeaten Eagles defeated Mister C 5-2, while Dragon from Giltress Street in Rollington Town clipped east Kingston rivals Eastern All-Stars, the reigning Pattex Cup champions, 4-3 to advance.

The other quarter-final matches between Mystix and Starliner and The Dip and Rowe's Strikers will be played on Sunday, August 8 also at The Dip. The semi-finals will be played immediately after the other quarter-finalists are known.

Meanwhile, all 14 teams in local skittles will journey to Mister C in Spanish Town (Brunswick Avenue) tomorrow to contest the one-day KO competition put on by the proprietor. The action starts at 1:00 p.m.

Petrojam, Wisyncounbeaten in BH football

Former champions the Gleaner Company remained in contention for a semi-final spot in the KSAFA/Western Sports Business House Division-I football league when they drew 1-1 with UWI at Winchester Park, St George's College, on Wednesday.

The 'newsmen' fell behind from the first minute of play when August Town player, Marvin Anderson, beat goalkeeper Everdeen Scarlett.

Gleaner gained the equaliser in the 17th minute, thanks to a powerful header from Keiron Brock. This resulted from an overlapping run on the right flank by full back Robert Bailey, whose cross found the waiting head of Brock.

Even with this draw, Gleaner with 11 points from six matches, are almost sure to make the last four with two matches against weak teams remaining.

The unbeaten Petrojam lead the Division-I standings with 19 points from seven matches (a game in hand), followed by UWI with 14 from eight, Carib Cement 12 from seven and defending champions Scotiabank 12 from eight, having completed their fixture and not likely to make the last four.

In Division-I matches played last Saturday, Courts clipped JNBS 2-1 with goals from Jermaine Oakley and Anthony Burke, while Scotiabank drew 0-0 with NWC.

In Division II, Wisynco are runaway leaders, having completed their preliminary fixtures unbeaten in eight matches for maximum 22 points. What's more, Wisynco have scored 26 goals and conceded none, with St. Georges Premier League player Girvan Brown accounting for 13 of those goals to be the season's leading scorer in both divisions.

Red Stripe are second in Division II with 14 points from seven matches, NHT third with 11 from seven and Wray & Nephew on nine, but from five matches.

Scotiabank's Nicholas McCreath is the leading scorer in Division I with six goals, followed by Petrojam's David Stultz on five, Carib Cement's Fabian Nethersole and teammate Jermaine 'Fast Car' Rowe on four, the same as Gleaner's Locksley Thompson.

In a Division II match played on Wednesday, NHT slammed National Land Agency 9-0 with a hat-trick from Andre Palmer.

Teams jostle for spots in Cobbla Church league

The battle for quarter-final places will continue tomorrow in the Cobbla Church League when Zone A teams Roose Madrid and Church United meet in the feature as well as the clash between Cumberland and Richmond.

Last week, Chantilly who were already out of contention, failed to show for their game against Mile Gully. This means Mile Gully are virtually assured of finishing the first round as the top team in Zone A.

Richmond are likely to make heavy weather of Cumberland who can no longer make the cut to the second round.

Last week, the league was enriched by the presence of three players from Premier League team, Sporting Central Academy, and one from Portmore United. The three from Sporting were Francois Swaby, Kamal Reid and Jamali Powell, while Jovan Powell represented Portmore.

Zone B leaders George North greatly benefited from the presence of these stars and won the top of the table clash against Spring Ground 2-0. Swaby, a striker, scored as well as Avadine Ellington.

Jamalco, Windalco, Mico win four in a row

The top three teams - Jamalco, Windalco and Mico University made in four wins from four as the Clarendon Juici-Patties Senior and Junior Netball league continued last weekend at the Mineral Heights Sports Complex.

Jamalco survived a scare and needed the experience and expertise of former National goalshooter Elaine Davis as they edged past Holmwood Technical (A) 37-34. Davis shot 33 from 36 attempts to stave off the makings of an upset as National Under 21 player, Denene Taylor, scored 31 from 35 attempts.

Windalco won their game against Optimist without scoring a hoop, as their opponents Optimist, failed to show.

Mico University, led by Shauna Carradice's 28 from 33, comfortably got past Denbigh A, 36-22. Hayes finally earned their first win easing past Holmwood B 45-33.

In the Junior League, Longsville made it four straight wins beating Humble Lions 37-19. However Humble Lions who played two games on the day, fared much better against Fogo, slamming them 22-4.

Ricam, who are based in Mandeville, were penalised last week for turning up late, but this time made amends earning their third win beating Tollgate 30-23. In other games, Denbigh B beat Glenmuir 20-12, Ramble Hill defeated Claremont 27-24 while McRebuilders were awarded full points after Gravel Hill failed to show.

Jamalco football league

Napoli scored an impressive 4-0 win over Railroad as the Jamalco Football league resumed last weekend after a two-week break.

Rohan Smith, Shantel Mundle, Desrick Ennis and Marlon Ellis got the goals in the game played at Wembley field. The home fans who turned out in their numbers at Wembley had mixed emotions. They were disappointed that they did not see their team in action as South Manchester failed to show but they were happy to kick-start their campaign with the points awarded.

Savannah were impressive in turning back the challenge of Raymond 3-1. Peter Morrison scored twice and Jaime Fothergill once but Savannah also conceded an own goal.

In the final match of the weekend, former National goalkeeper Alain Whittaker got on the scoresheet to help Mineral Heights gain a 1-1 draw against Top Halse Hall for whom Dwayne Ballentine scored.

Due to the annual Denbigh Agricultural Show, only two games are scheduled. Today at the Wembley field, Bottom Halse Hall face defending champions Sunset at 2:00 p.m., while at 4:00 p.m., New Bowens face Wembley.

Settlement stun Studds

Defending champions of the Western Union-sponsored Porus Under-15 league, Studds, were brought down to earth after they were whipped 4-0 by Settlement, the same team they beat in last year's final.

However, coach Brian Sterling argued that the team played three players short after they encountered problems with match identification cards.

Studds had started the season in outstanding form, nailing the all-female team Central 12-0 in the opening match of the league. They are likely to return to winning ways tomorrow when they face Connection at 5:00 p.m. in the feature game of a triple header at the Porus Community Centre.

Harmons will play Central in the day's opening encounter at 2:00 p.m., after which Chill Zone takes the field at 3:30 p.m. against Ebony Stars.

Former champions Tuff Gong also signalled good early form, hammering Genus 7-0.

Portsmouth, Ken's Wildflower final

Defending champions Portsmouth will meet Ken's Wildflower in tomorrow's final of the Milo-sponsored Portmore Metropolitan U-15 Cricket League, at the Bridgeport Sports ground, match time is 11:00 a.m. Portsmouth defeated Reid's Pen by 137 runs in a semi-final match at the Hamilton Gardens Cricket ground on Thursday.Scores: Portsmouth 209 all out, Malcolm Whyte 38, Damion Dunn, 32.; Horace Reece 4-42. Reid's Pen 72 all out, Courtney Dowie 28; Dunn 5-10, 3.2 overs.

Ken's defeated Washington CC by nine wickets on Tuesday. Scores: Washington 41 all out, Jameel Bryan 5-10; Michael Hurst 2-9; Ken's Wildflower 42-1, Jamarie Harris 18 not out, Michael Harris 17.

Portmore U-17 league heats up

Defending champions Portmore United, and Zone-B leaders Wanderers hunt their fourth win in as many matches as the Pines Imaging Centre Portmore U-17 Football League heats up with eight matches tomorrow. Zone-A joint leaders on goal difference, Portmore United (nine points), will be seeking a big win when they play minnows Queen's Park in the feature match in a double header at the Christian Pen playfield. Christian Pen welcome Daytona in the opening game at 1 p.m. Zone-A leaders on goal difference, Passagefort United, have a bye this week.

In other games, in the Zone, Waterford (six points), oppose East Portmore Portals at 1 p.m., at Watson Grove field, whereas Watson Grove host Greater Portmore in the feature at 3 p.m. Over in Zone B, the group favourites, Wanderers, are set for their fourth win in as many matches as they play Dunbeholden in the feature at 3 p.m. at the Southborough field, while at 1 p.m., at the same venue, Portsmouth tackle Southborough. A double header is scheduled for Racing playfield. Strugglers Hellshire United and Braeton United square off at 1:00 p.m. before Racing United and Westport clash at 3 p.m.