Jamalco limit errors to seal title

Raymond Graham, Gleaner Writer

MINIMISING mistakes proved pivotal in Jamalco's title success over Tivoli Gardens on Saturday, when both teams met in the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS)/ Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) Open League netball final at the Leila Robinson Courts.

Jamalco defeated their archrivals 34-29 in the feature of two finals at the venue, where Mico University College beat University of the West Indies Revolution 'A' 28-26 in the final of the competition's second-tier.

"We are happy for the win as the girls played well," admitted Nevers.

"Coming into the game, I knew it was going to be a tight one because Tivoli is a very good team and I told the girls that the team making the least mistakes would win the game, and luckily for us we made the least mistakes and we were victorious," Nevers assessed.

Veteran goal shooter Elaine Davis led all scorers to bury 29 goals from 34 attempts in Jamalco's winning charge, while Naudia scored the other five, from six attempts.

Cleopatra Grant led Tivoli Gardens' scoring with 23 from 29 attempts.

Jamalco's star-studded team, which included a host of national players and former national captain and goal shooter, Davis, took control early and led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Aided by several errors in the second quarter by the Tivoli players, along with some excellent play from centre Nadine Bryan and accurate shooting from Davis, Jamalco again outscored their opponents by four goals in the quarter to take an eight-goal advantage, as they extended their lead to 21-13 at the half.

Tivoli came out with more purpose in the third quarter as wing attack Peta-gaye Thomas, captain Oberon Pitterson at centre, and good defending by goal defence Subrina Spence kept them in the game as they closed the gap to three points, 21-18, and looked like taking over the game.

Confidence

However, they made some simple turnovers, allowing Jamalco to regain its confidence as Davis and goal attack Naudia Brown, who was later named MVP of the final, were having little difficulty in scoring as they stretched their lead to 28-18 at the end of the quarter.

With the fair-sized crowd getting behind Tivoli and cheering them on, the game got more competitive in the last quarter. However, Jamalco led by some excellent defending by goal defence Althea Byfield and goalkeeper Nicole Henry, made several crucial interceptions to keep their opponents at bay as they raced to a five-point win.

Tivoli's coach, Sylvester Campbell, was disappointed.

"We lost the game because of inconsistency because whenever we came back at Jamalco they seemed to let the game slip away, as it was an up-and-down performance for the team, and we cannot play a team like Jamalco like this, as they have too many experienced players who know how to deal with these situations."

Stepped up pace

In the curtain-raiser, Mico, who were meeting their rivals for the fifth time this season after sharing their four previous encounters 2-2, started out a little slow. Led by national senior representative Malysha Kelly and lanky goal shooter Alicia Williams, UWI raced to a 9-6 first quarter lead.

Led by good defensive play by national senior player Kimone Tulloch, who was later named MVP of the final, Mico stepped up the pace in the second quarter to draw level at 13-13 at the half.

The scores were tied 20-20 at the end of the third quarter as both teams continued to go tit for tat in the last quarter before Mico prevailed by two goals at the end. Goal shooter Sharna Carradice, with 16 from 26 attempts, and national player, Vanessa Walker at goal attack, with 12 from 15, were the top goal scorers for Mico. Williams, with 14 from 26, top- scored for UWI.