ACTION IN the Wray & Nephew St. Elizabeth Major League football competition continues tomorrow with three matches.
Super Action take on Middle Quarters at Mountain Side; Tafari Lions tackle the team of moment, Thornton, at Lacovia, and Vineyard Youth entertain Epping Forest at Vineyard. All matches begin at 3:30 p.m.
In recent games, Holland beat Vineyard Youth Club 2-1 while Black River United trimmed Rasta Camp 1-0 on Sunday. Tafari Lions beat Foster Youth 3-2 last Saturday.
In Division One, Tafari Youths will take on Burton United in today's lone game at Lacovia Sports complex.
Next week, Young Brazil face New Holland at Santa Cruz Community Centre and Leeds United tackle STETHS at Leeds on Tuesday while on Wednesday, Cataboo United play Mountainside at Holland, Rocky Hill United face Longwood United at Santa Cruz while Knoxwood Youth Club go up against Black River Police Youth Club at Mountainside.
In matches played earlier this week, Mountainside blanked Knoxwood 2-0 while Black River and Cataboo United ended 3-3 on Wednesday.
STETHS crushed Young Brazil 5-2 and Leeds beat New Holland 2-0 on Tuesday.
Action heats up in Portland football
TWO MATCHES will be played in tomorrow's Western Union Portland Major League.
Eagle Strikers tackle Taurus at Carder Park while Ujama take on Progressive at Hectors River.
Next Wednesday, Eagle Strikers will be at it again, this time against Snow Hill, while on Thursday, Fairy Hill face Taurus at Fairy Hill.
In action last weekend, leaders Manchioneal, led by Stephen Grey's hat-trick and Cory Browning's and Dwayne Phidd's braces, trounced Fairy Hill 8-0.
Eagle Strikers and Progressive ended 1-1.
The Under-17 league continues with its regular triple header, this time at Jones Park. In the first game, Fairy Hill take on Eagle Strikers at 11:00 a.m., Ujama play St. George's at 1:00 p.m. and Manchioneal face Snow Hill at 3:00 p.m.
In the latest round of results, Progressive defeated Snow Hill 5-1, Manchioneal beat Ujama 6-0 and St. George's beat Fairy Hill 1-0.
Girlz embarrass
Irie side 7-0
JAMAICA'S UNDER-20 women's team, the 'Reggae Girlz', crushed an Irie FM Invitational team 7-0 in a fund-raising match at Drax Hall on Sunday.
In front of hundreds of supporters, the Girlz put their passes together, masterfully getting by the Irie defence with ease.
The goals came in rapid succession. By the end of the first half, the score was 6-0. The Irie team had their moments but found it impossible to get by Paula Jackson who did a wonderful job in goal for the Girlz.
Omolyn Davis scored a hat-trick while Venecia 'String Beans' Reid netted twice and Shanique Mitchell and Shakira Duncan scored a goal each.
The Irie FM Invitational team was comprised of all males with and average age of 29.
The day's first game pitted a St. Ann's Masters team against a Sherwin Williams Women's All-star side. That game ended in 0-0.
Ritz-Carlton
face Holiday Inn
THE GRACEKENNEDY Springtime Western Hotels Sports Association annual all-island hotels netball competition continues this afternoon with five matches.
Ritz Carlton, last year's beaten quarter-finalists and a contender for top honours this year, face a stern test when they host beaten 2004 finalists and former champions Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, who are returning from a one-year absence, at 3:00 p.m.
At 3.30 p.m., seven-time champions Sandals Negril Beach Resort and Spa host sister property Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa, while at 4.30 p.m., Sandals Royal Caribbean and Private Island welcome Starfish Trelawny Resort to the Montego Bay Cricket Club.
At 5.00 p.m., last year's surprise quarter-final team Riu Tropical Bay should have things easy when they go up against Bank of Nova Scotia Negril, and at 6.00 p.m., Sandals Montego Bay should chalk up their second win against El Greco Resort at their home court.
Twenty-six hotels, including newcomers Tryall Hotel, Runaway Bay Heart Hotel and Training Institute, Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa, El Greco Resort and Starfish Trelawny Resort, are taking part this year.
Making a return to the competition are Couples Negril, Sandals Royal Caribbean and Private Island and Breezes Montego Bay.
Hotel netball semi action
DEFENDING TWO-time champions, Sunset Beach Resort and Spa, stayed on course for a 'three-peat' when they played their toughest match in nearly three years, staving off the challenge of perennial title hopefuls Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort and Private Island 30 -27 in their recent semi-final, which was played at the courts of Sandals Royal Caribbean.
This was the fourth consecutive year that Sandals Royal Caribbean lost at this stage of the competition, while Sunset Beach improved to 18 wins and one loss in the past three years.
That's still a far cry from Sans Souci Lido's, now Couples Sans Souci, impressive unbeaten five-year streak in the late '90s and Sandals Negril Beach Resort and Spa's 27-match streak during their triple championships from 2001-2003.
The champions will now meet Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, who edged previously unbeaten Grand Lido Braco Resort and Spa 30-28 in the other semi-final.
The final will be held on Thursday at the Montego Bay Cricket Club. The winners will collect $20,000 and the champions trophy while the runners-up will pocket $12,500.
Hotel 6-a-side
football kicks off
THE WESTERN Hotels Sports Association will, for the first time since 2001/02, coordinate the all-island hotels women's six-a-side football competition which kick off on Monday with three matches.
Sandals Negril Beach Resort and Spa will host sister property Beaches Negril Resort and Spa, Grand Lido Braco Resort and Spa entertain Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, while Beaches Boscobel travel to the Ironshore football field to play sister property Sandals Montego Bay. Match time for all the games is 4.00 p.m.
Nine teams will be participating and, though according to Sefton Lawrence, senior competitions coordinator for the association, the numbers were a little disappointing as they were hoping for at least 20 hotels, it should still prove an exciting and fun-filled competition with any team capable of winning.
Eastern Confed semis start tomorrow
THE FIRST leg semi-finals of the Eastern Confederation Smirnoff Ice Super League will be played tomorrow.
League winners Brazil of St. Ann travel to York Sports complex in St. Thomas to face Bath while St. George's entertain Star Cosmos at Carder Park. Both games begin at 3:00 p.m.
Following last weekend's final round of matches, mid-season champions Brazil ended atop the standing with 42 points.
They were followed by Star Cosmos (34), St. George's (30), Bath (25), Port Morant (22), York and Axum (21 each), Berlin (19), Iyante (18) and Benfica (16).
Brazil and Star Cosmos are favoured to take leads going into next Sunday's return leg semi-finals.
The league's leading goalscorer, Aldane Rattigan, who has scored 13 times, Kirk Boswell, Noxroy Williams, Orlando Brown, Borron Jackson and Aaron McDonald are the main players in Brazil's line-up.
Star Cosmos' manager, Everton Rose, said he awaits challenging times against St. George's.
"It's not an easy clash," he said. "We and St. George's over the years have had some intense battles ... and we will be away from home so we will have to adjust from how we would normally approach them," Rose said.
Star Cosmos, a former Premier League team, will be missing two of their top players in Adrian Henry, who has a broken arm, and Sherif Ellis.
However, goalkeeper Adrian Williams, midfielders Leighton McDonald and Toussaint Harris should step up to the plate.
Rose said: "What we are going to rely on is all team effort."
Don Davis, coach of St. George's, shared the view that tomorrow's contest will be another close one.
"It's an even contest. Historically, it's always been a struggle between the two teams," Davis said.
Striker Harold Franklyn and goalkeeper Tony Barnes are two of the main players for the Portland-based team.
In last weekend's action, Brian Wollaston scored five times and Rattigan netted four to carry Brazil to an 11-0 drubbing of Berlin at Drax Hall.
