In Your Neighbourhood
Published:Saturday | August 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
United Way helps Special Olympics Ja
United Way of Jamaica has stepped forward in helping Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) to offset the cost of sending the island's team to the Special Olympics Summer Games in Athens, Greece, in June. The organisation made a presentation of $650,000 to the SOJ last Tuesday at its office, to assist with the shortfall of that trip. The presentation was made by Winsome Wilkins, executive director of United Way of Jamaica.
According to Lorna Bell, executive director of SOJ, the donation will take them out of the red. She said, "Our entire organisation is blessed by the tremendous support we receive each year, especially during these tough economical times."
Apart from Wilkins and Bell, who was head of delegation in Athens, also attending the presentation last Tuesday were Neville 'Teddy' McCook, board member of SOJ, and athletes Romaine Austin and Shereen Gordon. Austin, at 14 years of age, left the island for the first time and captured three medals - two silver and one bronze in roller skating, while Gordon, who attended her first world games, captured gold in the singles and teamed with Esther Pair for silver in doubles, in bocce.
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Scotia beat Gleaner 2-1 in BH football
Defending champions Petrojam secured the fourth and final semi-final spot in the KSAFA/Western Sports Business House Division I football competition on Thursday, when former champions Scotiabank defeated The Gleaner 2-1 at Winchester Park in their final fixture to deny 'the newsmen' from advancing at Petrojam's expense.
The Gleaner (13 points) needed to beat Scotiabank to claim the fourth and final semi-final spot, ahead of Petrojam (14 points). But they squandered their chances in this crucial match and the semi-finalists are Wisynco and NWC (both with 16 points), Carib Cement (15 points) and Petrojam (14).
Carib Cement defeated Norman Manley International Airport 2-1 on Tuesday at Bull Pen to gain their spot. The 2009 champions Scotiabank and The Gleaner ended jointly in fifth with 13 points each.
The draw for the semi-finals pits Petrojam against Wisynco and NWC vs Carib Cement.
In Thursday's match, Gleaner fell behind from as early as the third minute when Scotiabank were awarded a penalty after Akeeli Martin was pulled down by Gleaner's captain and central defender Bernard Blackwood inside the 18-yard box. Waterhouse's Premier League player Akeem Thenstead made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Thereafter, Scotiabank, with Thenstead, Martin, Richard West and skipper Donovan Hibbert, controlled the run of play to hold a 1-0 at half-time.
On the resumption, Scotiabank went further ahead when Martin was sent through by Nicholas McCreath in the 47th minute and beat goalkeeper Everdeen Scarlett with a good shot.
Gleaner pulled back a goal through Locksley Thomas in the 52nd minute, and the diminutive striker should have gained the equaliser five minutes later when eluding goalkeeper Damion Crooks on the right side of the goal, only to see his shot blocked on the line by Crooks recovering in the nick of time.
Gleaner missed other good scoring opportunities when Blackwood kicked wide from close range on two occasions, as did Fabian Swaby, before time ran out.
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NHT defeat Broilers in 30-over semis
National Housing Trust (NHT) advanced to the final of the Best Dressed Chicken 30-over KO competition last Sunday when they defeated former champions Jamaica Broilers by two wickets in the semi-final at Spring Village.
Batting first, Broilers were dismissed for 108 off 28.4 overs - Noel Officer 38, Fabian Lakeman 16; national player Bevan Brown 3-11, Nkrumah Bonner 3-20.
NHT 109 for eight off 29.5 overs - Lionel Morant 22, Bonner and Shacoya Thomas 16 each; Robert Turner 3-27, Stephan Casey 2-8.
National Housing Trust will meet the winners of the LIME vs Jamalco semis in the final. Defending champions LIME are scheduled to meet Jamalco in the other semi-final on September 11 at Cable & Wireless Sports Club, Chalmers Avenue.AT KENSINGTON PARK: Digicel defeated Jamaica Broilers by three wickets in the semi-final of the Business House Cricket Board's 35-over KO semis on Sunday, July 31.
Broilers 164 for eight off 35 overs - Orione Williams 38, Aaron Daley Jr 35, Fabian Lakeman 32; Shamar Anderson 3-34, Dwayne Thompson 2-35. Digicel 165 for seven off 34,.1 overs - Jowayne Robinson 72 not out, Sadique Henry 18; Fitzroy Bryan 3-35.
The action switches to the Reggae Jammin 50-over league tomorrow with five matches scheduled. These are defending champions Jamaica Broilers vs Sagicor at Spring Village in St Catherine, LIME vs NHT at Chalmers Avenue, NWC vs JUTC at Mona, Continental Baking Company vs Digicel at Jamaica College, and Red Stripe vs Jamalco at Red Stripe Oval. Matches start at 10 a.m.
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Skittles semis at JPS Sports Club
Semi-final action in the Wray & Nephew White Overproof skittles competition takes place tomorrow with defending champions Eagles vs Mister C and Starliner vs Willies Strikers at the JPS Sports Club, Ruthven Road, starting at 1 p.m.
Last Sunday, Mister C from Spanish Town clinched the fourth and final semi-final spot when they scored an unlikely 6-1 victory over Mystix Lady Strikers at Dragon Skittles Club, Giltress Street in Rollington Town.
Mister C needed to win by a 6-1 margin in order to qualify ahead of the ladies team, and looked cooked when Donald Doyley lost the first game to reigning women's singles champion, Marsha Newsome.
However, the ladies failed to win another game, allowing Mister C to win six consecutive games to squeeze into the semis.
Prior to the semi-finals at 1 p.m., elimination matches will commence in the men's singles championship at 11 a.m.
Both the team final and singles final will be played on the following Sunday, August 21, at a venue to be announced.
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Royal Lakes, Black Lions face off
Defending champs Royal Lakes and Black Lions will face off in one of two quarter-final matches in the St Catherine FA Under-17 Football League at the Spanish Town Prison Oval this afternoon. Kick-off time is 2 o'clock. In the feature clash at 4:00, Albion, with the dangerous Tavar Morgan (10 goals) in their line-up, take on Spanish Town Police. Royal Lakes, with the league's leading goalscorer Romario Constant (13 goals), will be full of confidence as they play a team that they had never lost to in recent memory. Black Lions will depend on the scoring skills of Suwayne Barrett, who has found the net five times this season. Incidentally, Royal Lakes knocked out Black Lions in last year's competition, 3-0 on penalties. Black Lions were also beaten in the 2006 final by Royal Lakes. The other set of quarter-final games will be played on Monday at the same venue.
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Portsmouth lift Christine Cummings Cup
Half-centuries by captain Javian McFarlane (68) and Admed Campbell (50) carried Portsmouth to a four-wicket win over Colours International, in the final of the Milo-sponsored Portmore Metropolitan Under-15 Cricket League at the Bridgeport sports ground last Sunday. It was the second time in three years that Portsmouth lifted the Christine Cummings Cup.
McFarlane and Campbell shared in a 129-run partnership as Portsmouth successfully chased down Colours 185 all out (33.4 overs), and posted 186-6 with three balls to spare. Ramone Francis made a top score of 71, while Shaquille Brown hit 29 for Colours. National Under-15 player Ryan Scott (4-24) and captain McFarlane (3-34) shared seven wickets for Portsmouth.
At the end of the match, Karen Willis-Mussington, consumer marketing manager of Nestle Jamaica Limited, handed over the championship trophy to the victorious Portsmouth team.
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Wray and Nephew Portmore cricket
The new season of the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Portmore Cricket League bowls off at the Bridgeport sports ground tomorrow, with an opening ceremony and a match between Ken's Wildflower and Belmont. This match starts at 11 a.m.
The defending champions are Colours International. Ten teams are down to compete, including a Development squad loaded with youngsters, and G.C. Foster Sports College. A press briefing to launch the league and to announce G.C. Foster Sports College's involvement starts at 10 a.m.
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Waterford win close match
Waterford Domino Club had to stave off Westchester Nuckuz to win a countdown 250-248, in a home match at Miss Gee's HQ Bar in Waterford in the first round of the MP Colin Fagan-sponsored South East St Catherine Domino League last Sunday.
In other games, Ken's Wildflower shocked Passagefort United 250-246 in a countdown at Myrtle Way, Old Passagefort,
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P'more U, Westchester in semi-final clash
Defending champs Portmore United, with the league's most prolific striker, Malique 'Messi' Foster, in their line-up should have things easy when they face Westchester in the opening semi-final match of a double-header in the Colin Fagan-sponsored Portmore Under-15 football league at the Passagefort field, match time 1 p.m. In the feature match at 3 p.m. at the venue, Wanderers tackle Cumberland. Foster, who has been the top striker in the league the past two seasons, should keep Westchester defenders busy all afternoon.
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SDC Central Zone T20 heads to Ballards Valley
The Manley Horne Centre, located in Ballards Valley, which is under a mile west of Junction square in St Elizabeth, will host tomorrow's final leg of the Social Development Commission's (SDC) Central Zone National Twenty20 cricket round-robin matches.
Following last weekend's second leg, which was hosted at the Bushy Park community field in Clarendon, all four teams - Clarendon's Race Course, Treasure Beach and Junction of St Elizabeth and French Park of Manchester - have a realistic chance of securing the two qualifying spots in the National quarter-finals.
Race Course, who are best placed to advance, having won two straight matches, will play Treasure Beach in perhaps the feature game at 3 p.m. However, the day's action bowls off at 11 a.m. when Junction entertain French Park.
In last week's contests, French Park, who had lost to Race Course in the first game of the series, bounced back to defeat Treasure Beach by nine wickets. Race Course maintained their unbeaten run and got the better of Junction by seven wickets.
Treasure Beach, who had beaten their parish counterparts Junction, were bowled out for a paltry 63 in 10 overs, before French Park got home easily in 10 overs. The star performer in that game was off-spinner Chris Gayle, who snared five for 21 off his quota of four overs. There was excellent support from leg-spinner Casius Burton Jr, who took three wickets for 10 off two overs and also finished with an unbeaten 24.
Despite 45 from opener and captain Damion Ebanks, Junction's 135 for nine was not good enough to stop Race Course. Their openers Wayne Davis (59) and Dwayne Herah (13) laid the platform with their second straight half-century partnership. In the end, Kristmar Santokie (20 not out) and Dwayne Mahabir (18 not out) got them home.
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Cobbla New Testament Church League
The remaining two quarter-final spots in the New Testament Church of God Cobbla Church Football League will be decided tomorrow.
The six already through are: George North, Gully Strikers, Roose Madrid, Christiana (Zone One), Spring Ground and West Road (Zone Two).
Last weekend, Spring Ground confirmed their status as Zone Two winners when Randy Hyman scored to give them a 1-0 win over Church United. Clandon Strikers played to a 1-1 draw with Roose Madrid but the one point earned was not enough to clinch a spot.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Cobbla Youth Camp field, Napoli with six points will play Lazio, who have five points. At 4 p.m., West Road (8 pts) who are best placed, requiring just a point, face Church, who face a must-win to have any chance of advancing.
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Lloyd Plummer Memorial League
Zone One's Street Side stayed favourites to book the first qualifying spot to the second round of the INSPORTS Lloyd Plummer Memorial League when they defeated high-riding Bushy Park 1-0 in an important fixture this week hosted at West Park field in Clarendon.
The goal was scored by Jermaine Christian, who moved from Sporting Central to Humble Lions last season but struggled to find a place in coach Lennie Hyde's team.
The win pushed Street Side to the top of Zone One on seven points. With one match to complete the preliminary round, they have a point lead on Bushy Park, with Treadlight next on four points.
The loss for Bushy Park was their first.
In Zone Two, Race Track and West Park, seven points each, are poised to clinch semi-final spots, which will be confirmed from this weekend's schedule.
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Mandela hammer Hunt's Pen in Jamalco League
Maxwell Patrick scored the second hat-trick of the 2011 Jamalco Football League to lead Mandela to a 6-0 win over Hunt's Pen.
Mandela now share the lead with Top Hill (2-0 winners over Railroad) in Zone B on six points but have a superior goal difference. Raymonds are next on four points, with Hunt's Pen (1) and Railroad yet to score a point in three games.
In other results, Mineral Heights registered their first win in Zone A when Andrew Garvey's 13th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Wembley. In Zone C, Bottom Halse Hall capitalised on Michael Dixon's 44th-minute ejection for a second bookable offence to defeat Juventus 1-0, courtesy of Lamoy Holness' 59th-minute strike.
Six games, with double-headers at three venues, are scheduled for this weekend.
Today: New Bowens vs Mineral Heights and Invincible vs Top Halse Hall at New Bowens. Napoli vs South Manchester and Raymonds vs Top Hill at Wembley.
Tomorrow: Hunt's Pen vs Railroad at Wembley and Port vs Juventus at Salt River.
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Western Union/Porus U-15 League
Defending champions Tuff Gong stayed unbeaten this week in the Western Union sponsored Porus Under-15 League, defeating Genus 3-1. They now move to seven points, having beaten John Bosco Boys 4-1 while drawing 1-1 with Berrydale.
On their heels are John Basco, who have since rebounded to score their second straight win, stopping Connections 3-0.
Broad Leaf became the first casualty of the 2011 season, as they lost to Studds 4-1, their third such defeat, which now means they cannot make it to the second round.
The competition continues tomorrow at the Porus Community Centre with two games: Rising Star vs Berrydale and Studds vs Harmons.
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Manchester vs St Andrew at Brooks Park
Manchester recorded a mixed bag this week in their return to the JFF National Confed Under-15 play-offs series.
Manchester, who qualified along with Clarendon from South Central, began their return with a 3-2 away win over St Thomas last Sunday at Cotton Tree Oval. However, on Wednesday they were subjected to a painful 1-0 loss to visiting St James in a game they dominated at Brooks Park.
Tomorrow, they will hope for better results at Brooks Park, albeit facing the toughest team of their group, St Andrew. Three days later, they will host St Thomas in a return fixture at the same venue. Two teams will advance to the knockout semi-final stage.
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Windalco stay on course in Clarendon netball
Windalco remained on course to land a final spot in the Juici Patties Clarendon Senior Netball League after outlasting this season's surprise package - Turbo United, 51-40, last weekend at the Mineral Heights Sports Centre.
The win pushed Windalco to 18 points from six wins, with one game to go, a mouth-watering clash with rivals Jamalco. Windalco's only loss came in the first round at the hands of Jamalco, 46-45.
Turbo are next in the standings on 15 points, and though they have two games remaining they must repeat victory against Jamalco in their big return feature matchup tomorrow. Jamalco, who are on 12 points, are still in with a good mathematical chance of copping a final spot, as they have a game in hand against the competition's weakest team, Longville Park.
The quarter-final spots in the Junior League have all been secured with just the competition committee left with the task of working out the actual pairings, based on the tally of overall goals scored. From Zone One are Hayes All-Stars (zone winners), Humble Lions and the Manchester pair of Ricam Strikers and Greenvale.
In Zone Two are Sewell Lane (zone winners), Glenmuir A, Denbigh and Manchester High.
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Clarendon Business House football
Young's Pharmacy scored two wins this week to maintain sole leadership of the 12-team Group B in the Clarendon Business House Football competition.
Young's registered a 4-0 win over May Pen Hospital on Sunday before repeating the dosage mid-week over Parts-A-Lot. Young's now have maximum 12 points from four games, so far scoring 15 goals and conceding three. Next are Sinclair's who are on nine points from three games. The next best-placed teams at this stage are Moby's, Juici Patties and National, all locked on four points.
Zone A is more closely fought with Fire Brigade leading after three games on seven points, followed by the pair of Epic Hardware and Park View on six points each, and JPS on four.
Executive director of United Way of Jamaica, Winsome Wilkins (left), views the medals won by 14-year-old Romaine Austin (second right), after making a presentation of $650,000 to Special Olympics Jamaica to help in offsetting the cost to participate in the Special Olympics Summer Games in Athens, Greece, in June. Another athlete, Shereen Gordon (second left), executive director of Special Olympics Jamaica, Lorna Bell (centre), and Special Olympics board member Neville 'Teddy' McCook, who was in Greece, also shared in the presentation, which took place at United Way of Jamaica's office. Austin won silver medals in 100 and 300-metre roller skating, while teaming with Monique Brown for the bronze in the mixed doubles. Gordon won her age group's bocce event and, along with Esther Pair, took the silver in the doubles. Jamaica won 12 gold, 14 silver and five bronze medals in Athens. - Contributed