Ebanks, Powell lead Junction's win

As anticipated, the SDC 20/20 Community Cricket Parish Phase got off to a flyer last weekend, ending with a few nail-biting finishes.

A large crowd turned out at Vineyard, St Elizabeth - the feature venue for this round - on Sunday.

Opener Damion Ebanks (67) and Troy Powell (34) guided Junction, 153 for six in 19.1 overs, to an exciting victory over the Vineyard, who posted 150 for seven from their 20 overs, batting first.

Vineyard's Marshav Salmon slammed three fours and two sixes from 19 balls in his top score of 32.

Elsewhere, Leeds (80-6 from 10 overs) beat Pisgah (79 all out from 10 overs) by four wickets at Luana. Watchwell scored a last-ball four-wicket win over Elderslie. Elderslie made 107 for eight from their 20 overs, but with the scores even and one ball remaining, Watchwell got the most important run of the match to finish on 108 for six.

Afternoon rain last Saturday in the round-robin fixture forced a no-result between New Market and Crawford at Luana after Quick Step (93 all out) dispatched Braes River (64 from 12 overs) by 29 runs.

Ballards Valley (83-3 from 7.1 overs) completed an easy seven-wicket win over Pond Side (78 from 11 overs).

At Swaby's Hope, Manchester, defending champions South Star (133/7 from 20 overs) defeated French Park (113 a/o from 19 overs) by 20 runs.

New football facility in St Catherine

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia Grange, MP, has officially opened the new football playing facility at Ellerslie Gardens in St Catherine.

At the official opening (June 24), Minister Grange said the field was developed in a partnership between the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (through the Sports Development Foundation) and the charity organisation Food For the Poor.

The facility has been grassed, an irrigation system has been developed to keep the pitch in a match-ready condition and the complex has been fenced.

Minister Grange said the Govern-ment was committed to the further development of the facility. Minister Grange said the Sports Develop-ment Foundation planned to install lights at the venue. There are also plans for the construction of changing rooms and stands at the complex.

The new facility at Ellerslie will be shared by the community team Albion Football Club, which plays in the St Catherine League, and by Tawes Meadows of the neighbouring community of Tawes Pen. Tawes Meadows recently won promotion to the Super League. Minister Grange said the new facility should help them to improve their performance.

St Thomas youth football final

The finals of the St Thomas Credit Union Under-15 and Under-15 competitions will be played on Monday at Social Development Commission (SDC) starting 1 p.m.

In the primary division, Yallahs Primary will face off with Morant Bay Primary while Paul Bogle High will attempt to dethrone defending champions St Thomas Technical in the Under-15.

In the semi-finals of the Under-13 competition, Morant Bay dethroned defending champions Bath Primary 1-0 while Yallahs Primary in an exhilarating encounter defeated Port Morant 5-4 on penalties after Port Morant rallied from 2-0 to equalise the game in full time.

In the semi-finals of the Under-15, defending champions St Thomas Technical ambushed Bull Bay 5-0 while Paul Bogle trampled Port Morant 6-1 with three goals from the exciting Alvis Powell.

Both finals should be keenly contested as the teams are playing attractive football in the parish at this level.

A presentation will follow the finals with awards being made to the winners, zone winners, top goalscorer and goalkeeper and the MVP of the finals.

Letts, Anderson win pool tourney

Roy Letts and Dean Blackwood, representing the Distinguished Gentleman, defeated Mandeville's Fernando Anderson and Chris Sinclair 4-3 in the final of the Markham/Construction Management Limited and OCS Electrical-sponsored Double Trouble pool tournament at Hot Shots, 103 Constant Spring Road, last weekend.

Organised by Billiards Ja.com, the tournament attracted 64 players (32 pairs) from across the island. In an exciting final, Letts and Blackwood came from behind to level the scores at 3-3. They capitalised on a muffed chance by Sinclair to put away the match, leaving Blackwood with a single ball in hand to sink the eight-ball and win the match.

Letts and Blackwood won the lucrative cash prize of $80,000 and a trophy, while Anderson and Sinclair picked up $40,000 and a trophy for second. Rohan McDonald and Everett Austin, representing Mystical, secured $20,000 and trophy for third, while Colin Douglas and Grace Chin-Sang Letts, wife of Roy Letts, picked up $10,000 for fourth.

Presentation of trophies were made by Kevaugn Barrett of Construction Management Limited and Nicky Lawrence from Billiards Ja.com.

The season's first women's singles tournament will take place on Saturday, July 18, at the Mystix Sports Bar, Hagley Park Road.

Blazers remain unbeaten

Waterhouse Blazers kept their unbeaten record intact with their 10th consecutive win in the 2009 INSPORTS/SDC Southern basketball league when they brushed aside North Street Heats 74-64 early this week at the Stadium courts.

Waterhouse were led to victory by Kirk Shaw and Raymond Layne with 16 points each.

Swift Sons 'A' survived a spirited Spanish Town Spartans, who came back from a 16-point deficit in the first quarter, to win 73-72.

Edgewater Wolverines restored some pride to St Catherine when they defeated the high-riding Rae Town Raptors 78-64.

Finally, Blazing Panthers, who were beaten by Fire Services, and needing to defeat the Eastern Pistons by more than 7 points to top the zone, outclassed their opponents 77-62.

Desmond Harriott led the way with 23 points.

Blazers B are Intermediate champions

Blazers B were crowned St James Intermediate netball champions after beating Nampel 32-27 in the JPS-sponsored league final.

Blazers B and Nampel will now advance to the St James Senior League next year. In what was expected to be a very exciting game, lived up to expectation.

The Matebel Edwards-coached Blazers B won the game from the first quarter, as they sped to a healthy 11-4 lead.

Nampel bounced back to level the second 8-8, the third 7-7 and took the last 8-6, but their efforts were not good enough to surpass Blazers B sizeable lead.

Tracy-Ann Davis was impressive for Blazers B with 16 goals from 23 attempts and Monique Bingham 16 from 35. Natasha Powell 12 goals, Kalisha Marsh 12 and Simone Ellis four tried for Nampel.

Pacers B took third place over Herbert Morrison who could not take the court due to insufficient players.

Goal rush in Portmore League

There should be a mad rush for goals in the ninth round of the Senator Arthur Williams-sponsored Portmore Under-15 Football League tomorrow.

Cumberland, the sole leaders of the league on 21 points, are expected to be the first qualifiers for the semi-final, with a handsome win over lowly placed Portmore Pines (three).

The two teams play in the feature match of a double-header at the Cumberland playing field at 3:30 p.m.

The opening game at the venue should see more goals as semi-final bound Wanderers (18) take on second-from-bottom Braeton United (three). The closest contest should be between joint fourth-place Rodwood (16) and seventh-place Christian Pen (10) at 1:30 p.m. in the curtain-raiser at the Watson Grove playing field. Christian Pen have been inconsistent all season and if Rodwood have their way, their opponents could suffer a heavy defeat. In the feature match at that venue, Westport and Daytona lock horns, while Passagefort United (16) should be too much for Hellshire United (three) at the Passagefort playing field, match time 3:30 p.m.

Youth hockey kick starts in Portmore

The Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF) is using Portmore as its pilot programme to kick-start youth hockey in Jamaica.

This was disclosed by Ann-Marie Smith of the JHF at a special meeting of coaches and Elaine Walker-Brown, INSPORTS, sports officer for St Catherine at the G. C. Foster College, on Thursday.

The JHF will be having a two-week training programme for primary-schools students in Portmore starting on July 6, and ends on July 20. After the training programme, there will be a 3-on-3 one-day tournament at a venue to be announced.

They will then target youngsters in Spanish Town,

The players will learn the basics in pushing, passing, dribbling and scoring. The JHF will also train physical-education teachers at the school to get them certified. The training programme and the one-day tournament is a dress rehearsal for planned competition for primary schools in St Catherine in September.