In Your Neighbourhood

• Bridge round-up

Normality returned to the bridge circuit this week as the veterans firmly put the juniors in their place, gaining revenge for last week's embarrassment. Jamaica Bridge Association President Rex James once again proved himself the most versatile player on the local scene by winning both weekly tournaments with different partners, neither of whom was his regular partner, Judy Ziadie.

In Monday's Horace Payne Memorial, James, paired with 'Bumping' Betty Williams, recorded a magnificent 68.52 per cent round and a facile victory.

Carmen Levy/Calvin Wong (58.80 per cent), second, and Maurice Clarke/Herbert Gauntlett (56.02 per cent) third were left toiling in their wake. In Wednesday's leg of the David Levy with Audley Astwood, who was himself returning from a long layoff, James (56.25 per cent) pipped Ulla Dahl and Rosie Mahfood (55.63 per cent) second, and Carmen Levy/Hubert 'Brodsie' White (55.00 per cent) third in a blanket finish, where a single match point covered the first three home.

• Wisynco are BH KO champions

Wisynco, the only unbeaten team in Business House football, won the Scotiabank KO competition last Saturday when they clipped Wray & Nephew 1-0 in the final at the Mona Bowl, University of the West Indies.

In an evenly contested match, Wisynco got the winning goal in the 52nd minute via a penalty. This was awarded when midfielder Kevin Mighty was brought down by a defender inside the 18-yard box and Girvon Brown slotted past goalkeeper Julian McLeish from the spot.

Both teams meet again this afternoon in the KSAFA/Western Sports Division II final at the Mona Bowl, starting at 2 p.m., as Wisynco seek to complete the double. In the Division I final, unbeaten Petrojam will oppose former champions Carib Cement in the second match at the Mona Bowl, starting at 4 p.m.

• 'Schoolboy' triumphs in pool tourney

Noel 'Schoolboy' Blagrove from MoBay won the first tournament (eight-ball/double elimination) in the Cal's Spring Water and Real Vibes Party Wine Pool Tour, which commenced last Sunday at Hot Shots Pool Hall, 103 Constant Spring Road.

He defeated the season's top-ranked player Ewart Hall from Hot Shots 4-2 in the best-of-seven finals on Sunday night. This, the first leg of the seven-match pool tour which continues on September 25 and 26 in Mandeville, attracted 53 players from across the island and was highly successful. It marked the first sponsored tournament organised by the newly formed Jamaica Billiards Association, for which Nicky Lawrence is president.

For his efforts, Blagrove won $80,000 in addition to a trophy, while Hall, who is vice-president of the Jamaica Billiards Association, received $35,000 for second and a trophy, and Rhys Chin from Ocho Rios secured $15,000 and a trophy for third, ahead of Gary Manning from May Pen, who received $7,500 for fourth. All received gift baskets containing Cal's products as well.

Players finishing from fifth to eighth place each received $2,500. The best of the B class players, Jamar 'Fibre' Johnson finished fifth, Fernando Anderson (sixth), Calhoun Melville (seventh) and Rory Tenn (eighth).

En route to the final, Blagrove blanked Gary Manning 4-0, while Hall clipped Chin 4-3 in a close contest.

Nicky Lawrence said the organisation of the tournament went pretty smooth and given the level of prize money, she was looking forward to the second leg of the tour in another three weeks. Duncan Ximinies, general manager of Cal's Manufacturing Company Limited, presented trophies and prizes to the top three.

• Racing Fraternity league kicks off

The 2010 Racing Fraternity football league commenced last Sunday with Landscape blanking Farriers 2-0 in the opening matches at Ironside playing field, Gregory Park.

Goals by Orane Buchanan in the 14th minute and Orion Edwards in the 35th minute enabled Landscape to win in decisive fashion, while in the first match of a double-header, former champions CTL and Assistant Trainers played to a goalless draw.

The dress parade, which should have preceded both matches, had to be cancelled owing to rain.

The seven-a-side competition has attracted 12 teams in two zones. Teams in Zone 'A' are Farriers (or Blacksmiths), Landscape, Jockeys, Owners, Trainers and Grooms. Teams contesting Zone 'B' are CTL, Assistant Trainers, Exercise Riders, Racing Links, Agents and Security.

Matches are played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with the final set for Sunday, October 3.

On Monday, Security clipped Agents 1-0 with an 18th-minute goal from Andre Reid. In the second match on Monday, Owners and Trainers played to a goalless draw.

On Tuesday, Landscape beat Jockeys 1-0, thanks to a 28th-minute goal from Oneil Whyte, while Henoy Henry's 20th-minute goal enabled CTL to clip Exercise Riders 1-0 in the second match.

On Thursday, Owners defeated Farriers 1-0, while Assistant Trainers and Exercise Riders drew 0-0. The competition continues on Monday at Ironside with a double-header.

• Scotia 'A' make winning start in BH netball

Defending champions Scotiabank 'A' made a successful start in defence of their title on Tuesday at the Leila Robinson Courts when they crushed NHT 94-18 in the Business House Netball Association Senior League.

Scotia's goal shooter Marsha Murphy, a former national player, led the scoring with 76 points from 81 attempts, while Viola Francis-Cummings supported with 18.

Scotiabank 'A' will meet last season's promoted Intermediate 'A' champions Wisynco in their second match this afternoon at the Leila Robinson Courts, starting at 5:00.

Meanwhile, Scotiabank 'B' did not fare as well as their 'A' team, losing 30-54 to Police 'A' on Tuesday at the Leila Robinson Courts.

In a Senior League match played last Saturday, Jamaica Broilers defeated Police 'A' 46-30. Last season's Junior League champions Gleaner beat VM Group 29-16, GraceKennedy beat RBTT 35-15, JPS stopped Heart Trust/NTA 43-32, BOJ beat Housing Agency of Jamaica 23-16, ATL Group clipped NWC 22-19, Guardian Life stopped Wray & Nephew 21-16, LIME beat ICD Group 24-16 and Norman Manley International Airport slammed LASCO 30-8, both in Junior League action.

• Tuff Gong top Porus Under-15

Tuff Gong were crowned 2010 champions of the Western Union-sponsored Porus Under-15 competition, following a hard-fought 3-2 win over Settlement on penalties.

This was the third time Tuff Gong were winning the trophy, but had to do it the hard way.

Both sides were guilty of missing fairly easy chances created in front of goal, and the game was locked at 0-0 after regulation and extra time. Tuff Gong goalkeeper Marvin Callaghan then emerged the hero, saving two penalties and scoring the decisive one in the sudden death kick-off. Later, in the presentation ceremony which followed, he was declared the tournament's best keeper.

The new champions also featured prominently in other awards: Latiere Ramsay copped the Best Defender award and Lorenzo McDonald secured Most Disciplined award.

The losers - beaten finalists for the last two years - secured three individual awards: Sherwayne Edwards was voted Top Midfielder, while the pair of Randal Johnson and Lelieth Stone won goalscoring awards for male and female, respectively.

Melvin Morrison was voted Best Referee, Rising Stars got the Most Improved Team award, Shaeed McCalla, Most Improved Player, and Alicia Gentles of Genus selected as the Most Disciplined Female Player.

• Semis on today in Jamalco league

Wembley playing field in Clarendon will host both semi-finals of the Jamalco Football league.

In the first match at 1:30 Savannah take on New Bowens, while the feature which follows later sees Top Hill up against Invincible.

In last week's quarter-finals, two of the four games were decided on penalties. Last Saturday, Savannah booked the first semi-final spot with a 3-1 win over Napoli. Penalty kicks were needed, however, in the second game, where Top Hill and Juventus first battled to a 2-2 draw after regulation and extra time, before the latter nicked the game 4-3 from the spot.

Top Hill were the fancied team after finishing the first round unbeaten and without dropping points. Owen Gordon gave them a shock, scoring first in the 11th minute, However, Top Hill stormed back a minute later through Kishawn Westney. An upset seemed on the cards when Gray McLean pulled Juventus ahead after 29 minutes. It took Alton Taylor's 63rd minute goal to even matters.

On Sunday, New Bowens secured their place with a comfortable 3-1 win over Railroad but the second game again proved a thriller between Invincible and Bottom Halse Hall. Bottom Halse Hall looked to be holding on for a 1-0 win after Curtis Bryan's 57th-minute goal. However, Davian Mitchell snatched a sensational final-minute equaliser. That lifeline as well as greater luck during the penalties allowed Invincible to prevail 4-3.

• Cobbla Church League semis on

The two finalists in the New Testament Church of God-sponsored Cobbla Church Football League will be decided tomorrow.

In the first game starting at 2 p.m. at the Cobbla Youth Camp, Mile Gully will take on Spring Ground, while in the feature at 4 p.m., the exciting George North entertain Village.

In last weekend's final set of quarter-final games, Village triumphed 3-1 over West Road while George North kept their favourites tag in tact with an impressive 3-0 shutout of Roose Madrid. Orette Christie and the pair of Sheldon and Shelton Bell scored for Village while Oneil Powell got the consolation for the losers.

The competition's leading scorer, Avadine Ellington, with two goals and one from Jamali Powell, secured expected victory for George North.

• Juici Patties, Firemen lead in Clarendon Business House

Juici-Patties and the May Pen Fire Brigade are the respective zone leaders of the Tait's Pharmacy-sponsored Clarendon Business House six-a-side competition.

In last Sunday's play at the Mineral Heights football field, Juici Patties handed Courts a 2-0 defeat to stay unbeaten in four games while leading Zone Two with maximum 12 points. Transport, who won 2-0 over JNBS, are next on 10 points but have played five matches.

The May Pen Fire Department narrowly lead Zone One after rebounding from last Sunday's 1-0 loss to Mack Rebuilders to defeat the May Pen Police 3-0 on Wednesday. They have nine points from five games, with Mack Rebuilders second on eight points but from four games.

In other results from this week's schedule: Epic Hardware 3 Sinclair's 0; Young's Pharmacy 4 May Pen Hospital 1; Government Agencies 2 Carryshell 1; Carryshell 3 JPS 2; Sinclair's 4 Hospital 0; and JNBS 1 Courts 0.

Tomorrow's schedule: Zone 1: Agencies vs Glass & Windows; Carryshell vs Police; Stewart's Hardware vs Mack Chem; Fire vs JPS. Zone 2: Juici Patties vs Transport; Courts vs Sinclair's; Young's vs Epic; and JNBS vs Hospital.

• Passagefort United hunt fourth win

Former champions and joint leaders Passagefort United (12 points) will hunt their fourth win of the season when they face ninth-place Cumberland (four points) at Myrtle Place in Old Passagefort in the fourth round of the MP Colin Fagan-sponsored South East St Catherine Portmore Domino League tomorrow.

In other games, Waterford United host joint leaders Portmore Lane Tigers (12 points); defending champions Westchester Nuckuz, currently fourth, welcome Hangover United at their Westchester home; Garveymeade host Ken's Wildflower at the Garveymeade sports field while City Black Rock, the last-place team with zero points, will try to get off the mark as they oppose Portsmouth United at 41 Augusta Drive, Independence City. All matches begin at 1 p.m.

• Champions Wanderers

Samar Rowe scored a late second-half goal which handed Wanderers a 1-0 win over defending champions Portmore United in the final of the Pines Imaging Centre-sponsored Portmore Under-17 league recently.

The late strike saw Portmore going great guns for the equaliser but they were held at bay by good overall defensive work from Wanderers and excellent goalkeeping by Mikhail Francis. However, with 10 saves in the game Francis was a real hero for the Edgewater-based team that ended their 10-game season unbeaten and without conceding a goal. At the end of the match, Dr Wellsford Sinclair, managing director of Pines Imaging Centre, handed over the championship trophy.

• Ken's Wildflower win second match

Ken's Wildflower made it two from two in the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Portmore Cricket League after they easily defeated Washington CC by six wickets at the Bridgeport sports ground recently.

Scores: Washington CC 66 all out; Andre Allwood 22; Ken's Myron Chin six for seven in 6.3 overs. Ken's replied with 69-4. Junior Stewart topscored with 38 not out. Sheldon Hanson, 3-23, took most wickets for Washington. Meanwhile newcomers Bridgeview upset seasoned team Portsmouth at the Portsmouth ground. Bridgeview batted first and compiled 167 all out in 33.2 overs, with Peat Salmon, 29, and Courtney Bredwood 22, making most runs. Gerald Laing, 3-12, was Portsmouth's leading bowler. He got good support from Clayton Boreland, two for 19.

In reply, Portsmouth crumbled to 109 all out, with Rasheed Outar scoring 24 and Mario Downer 22. Salmon returned to grab 5-14 in 5.1 overs.

At Lime Tree Oval, Reid's Pen recovered from last week's surprise loss to Washington as they defeated Belmont by 17 runs. Scores: Reid's Pen 159 all out. Fabian Forbes hit a top score of 70 and Dennis Bulli made 30. Patrick Gayle (3-21) and Wayne Graham (3-41) shared six wickets for Belmont. Belmont replied with 142-9 in 35 overs. Dwayne Guthrie made 30, Orlando Minott 23 and Kevin Hinds 23. Anif Palmer (4-32) and Dennis Bulli (2-13) shared six wickets for Reid's Pen.

CAPTION - Ken's Wildflower and Jamaica batsman Tamar Lambert slams a ball to the boundary as Belmont's wicketkeeper looks on, during a recent Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Cricket match at the Bridgeport sports ground. The competition takes a break tomorrow. Action among the teams will restart next Sunday, September 12, with an inaugural Twenty/20 tournament. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer