IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

• J. Wray & Nephew to sponsor BH domino

The 2010 Business House domino season will be launched on Friday, June 4, at the home of the new sponsors, J. Wray & Nephew Limited, Spanish Town Road, starting at 6 p.m.

The evening's activities will include a uniform parade of the 20 participating teams in division one and two. The competition is being sponsored by Wray & Nephew under its White Overproof Rum brand and will be run by the National Association of Domino Bodies (NADB).

Play in both divisions will commence on Friday, June 11, with Seprod the defending Division I champions, while last year's Division II champions, National Baking Company, have been promoted to Division I. Both divisions have attracted 10 teams.

Notable absentees in Division I are former champions The Gleaner and Jamaica Electrical Technologies. The latter company, for which Calman Barrett is chief executive officer, sponsored the competition up to 2009 and, although handing over the reins to Wray & Nephew, will continue to assist with venue (Lyndhurst Road) and equipment, according to Humbert Davis, regional coordinator for the NADB.

• Rain thwarts BH cricket competition

All matches in last week's opening round of the Noranda Bauxite Partners-sponsored Business House 35-over KO competition were rained out last Sunday.

Among the matches was the big clash between defending champions Jamaica Broilers and arch-rivals LIME at Spring Village in St Catherine.

This and the other four scheduled matches have been rescheduled for Sunday, June 13. Apart from the Broilers/LIME clash, the other matches scheduled for that day are Jamalco vs OCS Electrical at Jamalco, Digicel vs NWC at Kensington Park, Sagicor Life vs Continental Baking Company at Chalmers Avenue, and JUTC vs NHT at José Marti, all starting at 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, due to the unrest in the Corporate Area earlier this week, the Business House Cricket Board took a decision at a meeting on Wednesday to postpone the opening-round matches in the Digicel 20/20 scheduled for this Sunday. The matches - Jamalco vs Digicel, NHT vs Continental Baking Company, JUTC vs LIME, OSC Electrical vs Jamaica Broilers, NWC vs Sagicor - have been rescheduled for Sunday, June 6.

• Portmore domino quarter-finals continue

The quarter-final matches in Division I of the Portmore/St Catherine domino league, which were curtailed last Sunday due to the state of emergency, will continue where they left off tomorrow at neutral venues, starting at 11:30 a.m.

At Garveymeade Sports Club, the match between defending champions Fort International and Prozz and Conzz will continue, with Fort International leading 205-166.

At Passagefort, in the match between Caribbean Classic and North Street United, underdogs North Street United were leading their opponents 231-226, while Right Stuff (178) were leading Ackee Pod (167) by 11 points at Gregory Park.

In the fourth match at Portmore Lane, cup favourites Eagle View were leading Eradication 152-143 when the match was stopped at half-time.

The winners will advance to the semi-finals at Caymanas Park on Sunday, June 6.

The Division II semi-finals between hot favourites Colours Sports Bar and Lime Tree, and Ken's Wildflower vs Black Rooster will also be played that day at the same venue, starting at 11 a.m.

• Vaz top Belair invitational meet

Vaz Prep comfortably topped the second staging of the Belair Invitational Track Meet held in Mandeville last weekend.

Vaz finished on 127.9 points, followed by Covenant Christian Academy on 76.7 points and host school Belair third with 70.75 points. Lanaman Prep (57.7) and Our Lady of the Angels (42.25) complete the top five of 17 schools which participated. Bethabra Primary, situated in Manchester, was the top government-run school and finished sixth with a total of 41.75 points.

The day provided the anticipated excitement and crowds of the first year. However, persistent showers in the afternoon forced the organisers to abandon the relays segment. Chief organiser Deon Hemmings-McCatty, the 1996 Olympic 400m hurdles gold medallist, told The Gleaner she was satisfied that the major objectives were met.

"I think it was a very good meet despite the rain. The events ran smoothly and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. Plus, the performances were good. We'll definitely be back for next year."

Chadwick Walker of Covenant Christian Academy emerged the leading Class One performer while crowd-favourite Sidgney Marshall of hosts Belair won the top female award in Class One. Walker won the 200m in a time of 27:90 but had to play second fiddle in the 100m, which was won in a good time of 12:30 by Corei Campbell of Vaz. Marshall gained maximum 18 points after completing victories in the 300 (44.50) and 150m (21.90).

Yashawn Hamilton of Vaz won the top award for boys in Class Two with significant performances, which included victory in the 100m in a time of 13.40 and second place in the long jump won by teammate Mario Heslop with a leap of 4.66m. Ebony Campbell of Covenant Christian Academy was the top Class Two girl. Ramario McClaren (Lannaman's Prep) emerged top Class Three boy while Ashly Scott of Covenant was the top girl.

• Paisley stun Faith in Clarendon Insports/SDF league

Young Kymani Williams scored four times as Paisley Basic School defeated Faith Basic School 5-2 in the INSPORT/SDF-sponsored Clarendon Likkle Schools football competition, which kicked off at Jamalco Sports Club on Thursday.

The competition, the first of its type, is part of a two-parish pilot project to launch a football competition for students in the under-five age group. St Catherine is the other parish in the pilot project and its league kicked off yesterday.

Kevin Morrison, a noted referee and Clarendon-based INSPORT officer, addressed the launch of the competition, which fields 18 teams.

"No crying, shoving or kicking each other," Morrison told the youngsters. "I want you to enjoy yourself just as you do when you are in your play pen or area. Remember to score a lot of goals."

He also admonished parents to help the students to appreciate the game rather than placing too much pressure on them to perform.

The competition continues on Monday at the same venue with three games. At 1 p.m., Race Track Basic take on Wesleyan; at 1:30 Evans entertain Rock Ministries; at 2 p.m. Treadlight face Bushy Park Gardens; and in the final encounter at 2:30 p.m. Paisley challenge B&W Basic.

• Cumberland hunt fourth win

Leaders Cumberland FC (10 points), fresh from a 6-0 win over Greater Portmore, hunt their fourth win of the season in five tries, when they tackle winless Clifton (three points) in the feature match at the Watson field in the Senator Williams-sponsored Portmore Under-15 Football League tomorrow. In the curtain-raiser Greater Portmore take on home team Watson Grove.

At Passagefort, Westport kick off a double-header against Portmore United at the venue at 1 p.m. Portmore are on a high after their staggering 12-0 win over Hellshire United last Sunday. Hellshire played with eight men. At 3 p.m., at the venue, Passagefort United go in search of their second straight win when they battle Hellshire United.

• Must-win for PFM International

Zone Two team Power of Faith Ministries (PFM) International will face a must-win game against last year's beaten finalists Faith Temple New Testament in the Power of Faith Ministries Twenty/20 Church Cricket league at the Lime Tree Oval this afternoon at 1:35. A tie or an abandoned game can help second-place Faith Temple (six points), but anything less than a win will see PFM International (four points) being eliminated. Old Harbour New Testament (10 points) are the early qualifiers from the zone. In the opener at the venue at 9:35 a.m., Zone one team Braeton New Testament challenge Jamaica Evangelistic Centre. a win for either side will see them advancing as the runner-up team behind already-qualified Power of Faith Seniors.

• Still favourites

New Bowens remained favourites to lift the 2010 Captain's Bakery Clarendon Major League after defeating struggling Gayle 3-1 on Thursday.

Leon Callaghan scored twice as New Bowens maintained their lead on top of the league.

New Bowens have now jumped to 42 points, four clear of second-place Milk River. Their latest three points capped a good week for them after earlier gaining three points from the Clarendon FA due to the withdrawal of Sanguinetti. New Bowens can wrap up the title with victory in their final match against Gimme-me-bit. They can gain a maximum of 45 points - one more than Milk River.

Milk River could still make the wait interesting for New Bowens. They have two two games remaining and will enter today's encounter against Longwood with confidence, having beaten Rock River 3-0 last weekend. While victory is a must, they will still have to hope that New Bowens draw or lose in the season decider on June 3.

The top goalscoring race also remains an intriguing affair since the players in contention are from the frront-runners. Callaghan has scored 15 goals, while Jemeal Forrestor, who scored a hat-trick last weekend, is on 13.