Holmwood make two finals for the first time in six years

HOLMWOOD TECHNICAL High School’s junior and senior teams are through to the final of the ISSA Schoolgirl Netball final with closer-than-usual wins over Glenmuir High School and Denbigh High schools at the Manchester High School Netball Courts yesterday.

Holmwood’s juniors were 35-30 winners over Glenmuir, setting up a date with Manchester High in the final, set for Thursday at the Leila Robinson Courts. Manchester made it a date with Holmwood after upsetting Denbigh High School, 30-22.

The Holmwood seniors, who made sure Denbigh would not be represented in the final at any level, were 38-28 winners and will play against defending champions, Glenmuir, who turned back May Day, 32-25.

It was the first time since 2018 that both Holmwood’s teams were reaching the final in the same year.

In what was a repeat of last year’s junior finals, a keen battle was expected between Holmwood and Glenmuir, with the former leading 8-7 in the first quarter before taking an 18-13 lead at half-time.

Glenmuir took control of the third quarter, outscoring Holmwood 10-6 to reduce the deficit to one.

Holmwood, leading 24-23 going into the final quarter and held their nerve to open the five-goal margin they would eventually end with.

“I am very proud of my junior team. It is a very young and new set of players. I have worked tirelessly with them all season and they really worked hard and I think they peaked at the right time,” said Holmwood coach, Carline Graham-Powell.

After blowing away their opponents all season with comprehensive wins, Holmwood’s seniors were finally tested.

Holmwood had slight leads of 10-7 and 19-17 after the first two quarters, despite replacing tall goal shooter Rasheda Brown with Jaden Swaby and putting Jada Ricketts at goal attack in the second.

However, in the third quarter when vice-captain Jessica Chaplain was inserted at centre, in her first game since suffering a broken arm in the second round, Holmwood rushed into a 31-21 lead, effectively ending the contest.

“Despite not winning by their normal big margins, I am still grateful for the win by my senior team. I was not worried when I saw the scores so close earlier because I knew that the team was much better than Denbigh,” said Graham-Powell.

GOAL ATTACK

In the second junior semifinal, Manchester could thank the efforts of goal defence Alia Morgan, and goal attack Britaney Daley for a final quarter push that helped them over the line against the highly fancied Denbigh.

In truth, Manchester were never behind, the underdogs keeping it even at 6-6 in the first quarter before jumping to an ever-so-slim 13-11 lead at the half.

The game stayed close with the scores tied at 18-all at the end of the third, before the duo put the squeeze on to outscore Denbigh 12-4 in the final quarter.

“The win for us was no surprise as I knew the potential of the girls and was always confident of victory. Most of these girls are coming from playing under 14 together where they have done well and they have the chemistry,” said Manchester coach Simone Smith.

Both the urban and rural finals will be played at the Leila Robinson Courts on Thursday.