Waulgrovians seek closure

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Waulgrovians 'A' are aiming to press home their advantage and dethrone last year's champions Jamalco, in Game Two of the best-of-three finals of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA)/Berger Paints Super League, at the Leila Robinson Courts today, starting at 6 p.m.

In the curtain-raiser, at 4 p.m., Windalco will oppose Tivoli Gardens in a battle for third place.

Waulgrovians, who are seeking their first hold on the trophy since 2001, lead the series 1-0 after an exciting 49-46 victory over Jamalco in Game One on Thursday.

Patrick Brissett, coach of Waulgrovians, said his team will be looking to close out the series.

"I think that once we protect the ball and get our turnovers down, then we should be okay on Saturday," said Brissett.

"I think that our team was not at their optimum because in one quarter we had eight turnovers and the last quarter that we won we had five turnovers," Brissett pointed out.

pleased with the win

He added: "I am pleased with the win but I still think we need to play to our optimum and we are still not there yet. I think that our semi-final game (against Tivoli Gardens) was a better game."

Meanwhile, Winston Nevers, coach of Jamalco who were suffering their first defeat of the season, is confident his team can rebound.

"I think that we are definitely going to bring this into a three-game series because we have been playing good netball all season and this is the first time we have lost a game this season," said Nevers.

"We didn't play well because our attacking area was very slow and flat and we did not pass the ball well and our execution was also not there."

National representative Christina Solmon led the scoring for Waulgrovians with 28 goals from 30 attempts.

Solmon received solid support from national captain Simone Forbes, who scored six of her 21 goals in the fourth period, as they matched Jamalco goal for goal down the stretch to eke out a close win.

Former national players, Elaine Davis, with 40 goals from 46 attempts, and Marsha Murphy, with six from eight tries, scored for the Clarendon-based Jamalco.

came out firing

Interestingly, Waulgrovians had trailed Jamalco 26-24 at half-time.

However, Waulgrovians came out firing in the third quarter, where they established a 35-31 lead, which forced Nevers to call timeout with six minutes remaining in the quarter. It brought marginal success, but Waulgrovians hung on to their advantage for a 36-33 lead at the end of the period.

"I think that we lost the game in the third quarter because we did not have any passes inside the circle," Nevers said.

"This is very strange for us to go behind 1-0 in a series."