In Your Neighbourhood

• Asher takes Burger King chess title

Wolmer's Boys sixth former, Miguel Asher took the 2011 National Junior Chess Champion title, after defeating Glenmuir's Andrew Ellis 2.5-1.5 in a four-game tie-break match at the end of regulation play in the Burger King National Junior Chess Championship, which took place at the Half-Way Tree Entertainment Complex between April 2 and 10. The championship saw the island's top-eight juniors battling each other during the single round-robin event.

Asher's only loss in the tournament came in the first round to woman candidate master Margoe Williams. He quickly bounced back, however, after the early loss and along with Ellis ended on six out of a possible seven points. Asher had won the head-to-head game between the two players.

Andrew Ellis took second place, while third place was shared among Williams, Laurence Davey and Ardenne's Damani Reid, who all finished on three and a half points.

Asher, who wants to pursue law, is the first student of Wolmer's High School to hold the National Junior Championship title. Asher hopes to follow this performance by successfully representing Jamaica at the various international junior events in the summer.

The 2011 Burger King National Junior Chess Gala was held concurrently with the Junior Chess Champs and after six rounds of play, Kareem Wright of St Jago High claimed first place with an undefeated 5.5 points, while Andrew Folkes of Campion College and St Jago's Roderick Clifford followed closely behind with five and four points, respectively. National Under-12 champion Rachel Miller was adjudged the best female player.

• Cumberland thrash Portals 5-1

Cumberland handed newcomers East Portmore Portals a 5-1 defeat as action continued in the Leander Marshall-sponsored Portmore Under-13 football league at the Passagefort field last Saturday.

In other games, Garveymeade clipped Daytona 2-1 while Clifton had a surprise 0-0 draw against Waterford. The competition continues tomorrow at the same venue with three games. Wanderers vs Daytona 1:00 p.m., Garveymeade vs East Portmore Portals at 2:00 p.m. and at 4 p.m. Cumberland vs Waterford.

• Do or die for PFM Development

Power of Faith Ministries (PFM) Development will have to win this morning's match against The Seniors to advance to the next phase of the competition as Zone Two teams take the spotlight in the PFM 20/20 Church Cricket League. PFM Development are without a point from two games while the Seniors have four points from three matches. In the feature match at 1:30 p.m. , last year's beaten finalists Old Harbour New Testament, oppose a confident Portmore Gospel Assembly. Both teams have four points from two games.

• Ackee Pod, North Street continue their battle

Fierce rivals Ackee Pod and red-hot North Street United will continue where they left off in an unfinished Jamaica Domino Federation Charley's JB Overproof Rum Portmore/St Catherine Domino league match at Old Harbour Road tomorrow. Match time is 2:00 p.m.

North Street, currently in eighth place on 44 points, have knocked off at least three highly rated teams, former leaders Right Stuff, defending champions Fort International and seasoned team Masterpiece this season, so quite a battle is expected today.

The match was blown off a number of weeks ago because of a power outage with Ackee Pod leading 245-235. The contest will continue from that score and the first team to amass 300 points will emerge winners.

Defending champions Fort International play Village Link in a rescheduled match at Passagefort Drive while Colours Sports Bar and Eradication square off at Port Henderson Plaza.

• Watson Grove hope to break deadlock

Mid-season champions Watson Grove will hope to break their 1-1 deadlock with East Portmore Portals, when the two play in their LIME-sponsored Portmore Division second-leg semi-final clash at the Ferdie Neita Park in Braeton tomorrow at 3 p.m. In the opening match at the venue, Westport and Hellshire United will square off at 1:00 p.m. The two will try to break their 0-0 stalemate from the first leg. A winner must emerge from both semi-finals and, if necessary, extra-time and penalties will be employed.

• Hurricane Domino host pairs competition

Hurricane Domino Club who are playing at a new venue this season at Bayside in Portmore, St Catherine will host a pairs knock-out competition, tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.

The winning pair will take home $30,000, second $10,000 and third $5,000. Entry fee is $1,000 per pair. Hurricane's original home was in Dunbeholden. This is the third pairs competition of the season and is endorsed by the Jamaica Domino Federation, the association which governs the Charley's JB Overproof Rum/ Supreme Ventures Portmore/ St Catherine Domino League.

• Penn Relays referee

Jamaica's Consul General in New York Dr Geneive Brown Metzger, has been selected as the Honorary Carnival Referee for the 117th Penn Relay Games in Philadelphia.

The Penn Relays will be held from April 28 to 30 at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia.

Dr Brown Metzger will join the corps of Penn Relays officials and assist in presenting the awards to the winners, including to those from Jamaica.

"The Consul General has aided greatly in strengthening ties between the Relays and the large Jamaican community, both those living in the United States and those in Jamaica," noted Dave Johnson, director of relays.

Jamaica has played a major role in the Penn Relays for decades with a continuous showing of world-class track and field athletes, from Herb McKenley to Usain Bolt.

• Monymusk in Confed semis

Clarendon's Monymusk joined defending champions Meadows and former DPL contenders Rivoli as confirmed semi-finalists in the South Central Confed Super League following a 2-0 midweek win over Newell of St Elizabeth.

Interestingly, Monymusk were beaten 1-0 at home last weekend by Meadows, but other contenders Downs and Naggo Head failed to capitalise. Downs who needed to win, were held to a 1-1 draw by Newell while Naggo Head were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home by relegation-threatened Tru Juice. With Meadows and Rivoli unchallenged as zone winners, it is now confirmed that Monymusk will face Rivoli in the semi-finals slated for the Spanish Town Prison Oval next weekend.

The lone semi-final spot to be determined is in Zone A where Bodles (20 points) and Dela Vega United (18) are in contention. With a superior goal difference, Bodles will travel to face Clarendon's New Bowens, requiring just a draw to advance while Dela Vega must win against Rivoli and hope that Bodles are beaten.

In last weekend's results, Bodles edged Mile Gully 1-0 while Dela Vega won 2-0 over New Bowens. Those results also sealed relegation for Mile Gully and New Bowens.

The Zone B candidates have yet to be confirmed but the two should come from Newell (12 points), Tru Juice (16) and Naggo Head (18). Newell who will host Tru Juice at Hunslow tomorrow also have a rescheduled home game against Meadows next Wednesday.

Under-20 matches will precede the Super League games.

• Super Action, Tafari Lions battle again

It is still anybody's guess who will emerge champions of the St Elizabeth FA Major League season, after the two finalists, Tafari Lions and Super Action, battled to 1-1 draw at St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) last weekend.

Like the semi-finals, the finals are played over two legs. Extra-time and penalties will be employed to break any deadlock.

Last Sunday at the STETHS ground, Derval Thompson scored in the third minute to give Super Action the lead, but Tafari Lions would storm back before the half could be completed when Ryan Sharpe (40th) found the equaliser.

In addition to prize money and the customary champions trophy, the winners are automatic qualifiers to the South Central Confed Super League.

• Manchester Major League round-up

The Captain's Bakery-sponsored Manchester Major League will enter its final weekend of preliminary return games.

All of the semi-final spots are already confirmed. New Green were the first to do so after defeating George's Valley 3-1. The defeat for George's Valley meant they will be absent from a Manchester Major League semi-final for the first time in many years.

Mid-season champions Hillstars secured the second spot after completing two wins in four days. After tagging Star Liner 3-0, Hillstars then continued former champions George's Valley's agony with a 3-1 win on Wednesday.

Porus copped the third semi-final spot with a 3-3 draw with Kendal, who also failed to reproduce last season's form which saw them playing in the semi-finals. However, the biggest surprise package of the semi-finals were Comfort. Following their promotion to the Major League after winning last season's Division Two competition, they have showed steady improvement. They needed to win their last two games to advance and they did so in style - first hammering relegation-bound Mandeville United 5-0 before clipping highly rated New Green, 2-1 on Wednesday.

• Gimme-me-bit march on

Gimme-me-bit's march towards the Claro/Captain's Bakery Clarendon Major League title continued last weekend after they recorded a 1-0 away win over Free Town.

Gimme-me-bit have now moved to 34 points, five clear of second-place Woodhall. Woodhall who also won last weekend, turning back Milk River 2-1, muffed a glorious chance on Wednesday to close the gap to just two points when they were shocked 3-0 by Original Hazard. In fact, that win coupled with 1-0 effort against York Town last weekend, enabled Original Hazard to make a big jump from sixth to fourth on 25 points.

Mid-season winners Spartan Athletic held on to third place with a 2-1 win over Gayle.

The top six teams will be involved in this weekend's slate of matches. Today's big clash at Clarendon College sees Spartan entertaining Original Hazard. Tomorrow, Gimme-me-bit will travel to sixth-place York Town while Woodhall host Longwood at Turner's Oval.

On Easter Monday, Milk River will entertain Rock River.

• Allied join perfect Hopewell

Allied have now joined Hopewell as the only teams to maintain perfect win records in the Power Services Company Limited (PSCL)-sponsored Manchester Division Two league.

Allied recorded a 3-2 win over Grey Ground to move to maximum 12 points from four games. However, (Cobbla/Gully) Strikers shared the spotlight recording the highest margin of victory this week - a 5-1 hammering of Flavour. In the other result of the week, Villa stopped Old England 3-1.

After four rounds the respective zone leaders are: Hopewell in Zone A, Allied in Zone B and Villa in Zone C.

Meanwhile, the Manchester FA kicked off its Under-17 league on Tuesday with an opening ceremony and dress parade at Brook's Park. This competition is also sponsored by Power Services Company Limited.

Fifteen of the 17 competing teams featured in the dress parade which was won by Greenvale. However, in the subsequent opening game, Greenvale were handed a 3-1 beaten by last year's champion, Porus Academy.

• Claro Clarendon Division One

The respective group leaders of the 36-team strong Claro-sponsored Clarendon Division One football competition remain unchanged after six rounds.

Summerfield head Zone One with 15 points from six games. In second place are Bucknor who have the distinction of being the only team with a perfect win record. Bucknor snatched their fourth straight victory with a 3-0 mid-week win over Turners.

Springfield are on top in Zone Two with 15 points from six games following a 4-1 win over Vanguard. Zone Three is tightly contested. Despite losing 1-0 to Four Paths, Treadlight hold on to the lead with 13 points from six games. Four Paths are next with 12 but the next four teams are all locked on nine points.

Jamalco who had a 1-0 win over Emmanuel, lead Zone Four with 16 points, having dropped maximum points only to second-place Mineral Heights (13). Longsville Park who drew 2-2 with Mineral Heights are next on 12 points.

CAPTION: National junior chess champion, Miguel Asher (right) receives his trophy from Nadine Campbell-Pearson, brand manager at Burger King Jamaica - the title sponsor of the event. The championship was held at the Half-Way Tree Entertainment Complex between April 2 and 10. - Contributed

CAPTION: Paul Palmer Jr, captain of newly-crowned Grace/ISSA Headley Cup cricket champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) accepts the championship trophy from Lakishma Thomas, Mandeville branch manager of First Global Bank, a subsidiary of Grace Financial Services at a recent presentation ceremony. STETHS easily defeated Tacky High of St Mary by 363 runs at Alpart to carve their 24th lien on the trophy. ISSA's cricket chairman Col. Errol Johnson (partially hidden at second right) looks on. STETHS were crowned all-island champions for a fifth consecutive year on Wednesday after they beat Innswood High by 39 runs in the Spalding Cup play-off. - Richard Bryan photo