Inter-col netball finals on at UTech

Inter-collegiate netball will take centre stage at the Univer-sity of Technology (UTech) today.

The Papine-based university will host a triple header as the 2010 inter-col netball season comes to an end with what is expected to be three exciting matches.

In the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser, G.C. Foster junior team will play Knox Community College before their Intermediate team opposes defending champions Mico in the second game at 3 p.m. In the feature at 4 p.m., Mico University College go up against the University of the West Indies (UWI) in the senior final.

Most attention will be focussed on the final game as a new cham-pion will be crowned. UTech are the defending champions.

Both UWI and Mico have shown all season that they are the best two senior teams in inter-col netball and they enter the final with near identical records. Mico have won nine times while losing once, while the UWI won eight times, also losing once.

Senior finalists

The senior finalists have met twice this season and have a win each. Three weeks ago, Mico, playing at home, defeated their opponents by three points, while in a confidence-booster game last Saturday at UWI, the home team had an impressive six-point win over a Mico team which was suffering their first defeat in their final preliminary-round game.

Mico, who had qualified for the final two weeks earlier, came out in a lacklustre mood and paid the price as the Conrad Parkes-coached UWI came out in a no-nonsense mood and led from start to finish for a convincing win. In that game, the lanky goal shooter, Alicia Williams of UWI, was unstoppable. Mico's goal defence, national senior player Kimone Tulloch, could not contain her as she used her height to great effect.

While Williams will again be a key player for UWI today, the Annette Daley-coached Mico will be hoping that another national senior player, Vanessa Walker, who was off colour in the defeat by UWI, will return to her best. Walker has been Mico's best player all season whether at goal attack or goal defence and she is expected to get good support from goal shooter Sharna Carradice and centre Patricia McCalla.

The intermediate final should also be a keen encounter, as defending champions Mico, who are unbeaten with nine wins, are expected to be challenged all the way by the C. Lloyd Walker-coached G.C. Foster. The Spanish Town-based team are also coming for revenge, as their only defeat so far has been at the hands of their rivals who outplayed them on their home court early last month to win by ten points.