Carolyn Johnson, Freelance Writer
Jamaica Defence Force's Saneka Thomas (left) defends against Digicel's Monica hayden in action from the Business House Netball League Intermediate League third-place play-off at the Leila Robinson Courts on Thursday. Digicel won 36-30. -photo by Anthony Minott
The Business House Netball season comes to a climax this afternoon with final matches and presentations at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC).
In the Super League, reigning champions General Accident will play Bank of Nova Scotia 'A' for the third time this year, with the former shooting for their third consecutive win in the evening's grand finale.
Their game will be preceded by the Senior League showdown between Sugar Company and National Commercial Bank 'A', while in the Intermediate 'A' division, Jamaica Public Service will face off with Wisynco.
In the Intermediate 'B' final, NEM Insurance will shoot against Lasco for the title and in Junior League action, FirstCaribbean will play ISSA Transport.
number one
These finals were preceded by third-place play-offs on Thursday. Then, Digicel proved they were number one when they beat the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) 36-30 after 10 minutes of extra time, to place third in the Intermediate 'A' play-offs at the Leila Robinson courts.
"I think they really deserved this. When we started the season they didn't think they were capable of playing in Intermediate 'A'," an elated coach Connie Francis said after her team won.
However, during the game she was not always so confident of her team.
"I think that both teams played, [but] when the game got so scrappy I didn't think we were able to pull it off. It was guts and determination.
"The other team started to panic, making errors they weren't making during the course of the game [before extra-time]," she said. Francis commended her defence team and shooters Marlene Wilson, goalshoot who made 15 from 22 attempts while her teammate Kerry-Ann Bailey got 21 from 31.
strong defence
But it was always Digicel's game to lose. Digicel started the game in the lead which they maintained until they tied 21-all at the end of normal time. Still, JDF refused to go down without a fight, aiming to break even on many occasions.
Digicel's defence held out, however, with goal defence Audie Grant and goalkeeper Kerri-Ann Mitchell ensuring the ball did not stay in the circle for too long.
The soldiers put up a valiant fight, especially in the last quarter when they seemed bent on winning the game, rallying from 17-13 to end 21-all. The shooting pair comprising Jennifer McKenzie and Charmaine Emanuel made six from 15 and 24 from 34 respectively.
The JDF's team said they did not feel like commenting.
In Super League action, Jamaica Broilers are again third-place winners after defeating RBTT 47-32.
Leading the group, Lovena Parnell made 38 from 45 attempts, Annette Jackson one from two, Denice Brown five from six and Keisha Clarke three from four.
RBTT shooters Trudy-Ann Dawson and Shauna Lee Miller-Mais netted eight from 21 and 24 from 36, respectively.
In other divisional matches, Digicel were third-place winners, beating Jamaica Defence Force 36-30 after 10 minutes extra time in Intermediate 'A'. STATIN ran over Blue Cross 27-7 in Intermediate B and Jamaica Money Market Brokers won Lascelles 26-15 for third-place among the Juniors.
