Confident coaches eye wins in all-island netball finals

Following last Thursday’s exciting rural and urban schoolgirls’ netball finals inside the National Indoor Sports Centre, attention will now turn to Friday’s all- island battles at Manchester High School’s netball court.

In the junior final, Holmwood Technical High will face St Hugh’s High while St Catherine High will battle Glenmuir High in senior action.

Both St Catherine, the urban senior champions, and Glenmuir, the rural queens, won the titles for the first time and a close contest is expected on Friday. Both teams are very good in defence and the shooters could decide the final.

Rayon Reid, the coach of Glenmuir, and Phylis Thompson, St Catherine coach, are extremely confident of going all the way. Glenmuir used their very tall players to their advantage in their win over Manchester with goalkeeper Kentonian Henry, goal defence Tamaria Williams and wing defence Kelene McKenzie breaking up several attacks.

“We are really looking ahead to this final and the players are ready to step up the pace. “We are in it to win it,” said a very confident Reid.

After handing high-riding Gaynstead their first defeat in two years, St Catherine, with the outstanding goal defence Asharie Thomas and goalkeeper Kaydeen Gordon, will be hoping for another victory against an unbeaten team and coach Thompson is oozing with confidence.

“The game will be very competitive. My team will be leaving everything on the court because it will be their last game for the season. The girls are in high spirits and I trust and believe that they will give it their all,” said Thompson .

Coach Carlene Powell-Graham of Holmwood will be seeking her first junior all-island title after winning several senior crowns and this is a big motivation for her and her team.

“We have won the rural under-16 title on several occasions but have never won the all-island title and we are looking forward to this clash with St Hugh’s,” a confident Powell-Graham said.

It was a surprisingly easy win for St Hugh’s over the previously unbeaten Immaculate Conception High in the urban under-16 final. St Hugh’s have won the all-island title before but coach Nardia Hanson is seeking her first title and she is very optimistic about her chances of coming out on top.

“Our opponents will have home advantage here but we are not concerned. We did not expect that easy win over Immaculate in the urban final and the girls are ready for another big performance. We have a very good attacking team and once the girls stay focused and take care of their centre passes, we will take care of business,” Hanson said.