AN IMPRESSIVE century from Shacoya Thomas piloted Eltham 2006 Jamaica International Insurance Company (JIIC) Knock-out crown.
Winners of the Grace Shield Premier League and the Grace Under-16 for the past two years, Eltham secured the knock-out title for the first time with a nine-wicket victory over Mona at Melbourne Oval, on Monday.
Ironically, both finalists were actually beaten semi-finalists, but with the disqualification of Kingston College (KC) and Spanish Town, Eltham and Mona advanced to the final.
KC and Spanish Town were said to use ineligible players in their semi-final matches, thus causing the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) to throw them out.
Both teams breached ISSA's rule of using players in more than one competition within the same season. ISSA's rules state that a player, who moved up or down from a competition, cannot return to where they started the season.
In yesterday's match, Mona totalled 164-7 off their allotted 40 overs, to which Eltham replied with 167-1 in 36.2 overs.
Romaine Mothersill, 51 not out, Keron Davis, 25, and Kemar Wilson, 24, top scored for Mona against Herod March (2-28) and Shane Harris (2-34).
EASY WIN
In reply, after losing their first wicket at 26, Eltham, through Thomas' unbeaten 108, were carried through to an easy win.
Thomas got support from Matthew Stewart, 38, as they shared in a 141-run partnership for the second wicket.
Thomas, who was dropped twice in single figures by wicketkeeper Mothersill off Phillip Smith, went on to hit a six over long-on to reach his century and a four in the same direction to wrap up the match in style.
In the end, he hit eight fours and five sixes off just 71 balls.
Eltham's coach, Oral Simpson, said their target was to win the only corporate trophy that eluded them last year.
"We said we were coming for this trophy this year. The boys stuck to the task and did it. I'm elated," he said after the match.
