IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

The opening round of the Digicel 20/20 Business House cricket competition takes place tomorrow with defending champions Jamaica Broilers up against highly touted newcomers OCS Electrical at Jacisera Park.

Both teams hold a victory over each other in the early stages of the Business House competitions, OCS beating Broilers in the Reggae Jammin 50-over league some weeks ago and Broilers subsequently turning the tables in the Best Dressed Chicken 30-over KO competition.

The matches on tomorrow are OCS vs Jamaica Broilers, JUTC vs LIME at Jose Marti, NHT vs Continental Baking Company at Mico, Jamalco vs Digicel at Jamalco and NWC vs Sagicor at Mona. All matches start at 11 a.m.

The rained-out matches in the opening round of the Noranda Bauxite Partners 35-over competition will be played next Sunday, June 13. The five matches include the big clash between defending champions Jamaica Broilers and league champions LIME at Spring Village in St Catherine.

Sistas skittles final tomorrow

The Henkel-sponsored Sistas skittles singles final takes place tomorrow at Mystix Sports Bar, 78 ³/⁴ Hagley Park Road, with 10 players vying for top honours.

They include Portmore's Lenvillle Pottinger (Meadowvale) who has been drawn to meet Eastern's Sidney Carrington. The action starts at noon.

Meanwhile, the other pairings are five-time champion Robert McKen from Eagles vs Rowe's Strikers' Garfield 'Milligram' Samuels, former champion Keith Barrett from Eastern vs Everton Thomas from Mystix, and Winston 'Wimpy' Lyew from Willies Strikers vs Oriel Sewell from Zorro in St Ann's Bay. Eagles' Emmanuel Munda and Zorro's Lawford Grant have drawn a bye to the next round.

The last two players left standing will contest the final which offers $60,000 for second and $15,000 for third. The presentation of trophies and prizes will take place following the final.

Portmore domino semi-finals at Caymanas

The semi-finals of the Portmore/St Catherine domino league are on at Caymanas Park tomorrow with defending champions Fort International taking on Caribbean Classic in a virtual replay of last year's final at the same venue.

Fort International drubbed Prozz and Conzz 300-270 in quarter-final action last Sunday to advance, while Caribbean Classic clipped North Street United 300-295 in an exciting countdown at Passagefort for their semi-final berth.

Eagle View, having topped the preliminary round of the competition to be the top seed, were surprised by eighth-seed Eradication 300-296 in a thrilling countdown at Portmore Lane.

Although Eagle View led 152-143 when the match was curtailed at half-time on the previous Sunday arising from the state of emergency, Eradication rallied strongly in the second half to lead 299-296, winning the last game, much to the delight of their supporters.

In the fourth quarter-final match, Right Stuff defeated Ackee Pod 300-286 at Gregory Park.

The draw for tomorrow's semis will see Fort International vs Caribbean Classic and Eradication vs Right Stuff. The Division II semi-finals will also be played tomorrow at the same venue, with Colours Sports Club up against Lime Tree Grove and Ken's Wildflower taking on Black Rooster. All matches start at 10:30 a.m. and the winners will advance to the finals at Caymanas Park on Sunday, June 20.

Cumberland, Westport battle

Leaders Cumberland (10 points) will want to quickly shrug off last week's disappointment, against Clifton, with a win over Westport in the opening game of the Senator Arthur Williams-sponsored Portmore Under-15 football league match tomorrow at Watson Grove field at 1 p.m. Cumberland were absent from a scheduled game against Clifton last Sunday, and the latter gained three points.

In the feature match at the venue at 3 p.m., joint leaders on points, Watson Grove (10 points), welcome strugglers Hellshire United (two points). At Passagefort field, third-place Portmore United (seven points) take on fourth-place Clifton (six points) at 1 p.m., while Passagefort United (four points) look for their second win of the season, against Greater Portmore (four points), at 3 p.m.

Last chance for PFM International

Zone Two team Power of Faith (PFM) International have their last chance of advancing to the semi-finals when they meet last year's beaten finalists, Faith Temple New Testament, in the Power of Faith Ministries Twenty20 Church Cricket league at the Lime Tree Oval this afternoon at 1:35.

A tie or an abandoned game can help second-place Faith Temple (six points), but anything less than a win will see PFM International (four points) being eliminated. This match and the opening match were postponed due to a waterlogged outfield.

Old Harbour New Testament (10 points), are the early qualifiers from the zone. In the opener at the venue at 9:35 a.m. Zone One team Braeton New Testament challenge Jamaica Evangelistic Centre. A win for either side will see them advancing as the runner-up team behind already-qualified Power of Faith Seniors.

SDC cricket launched

A cricket rally at Waterford High school this morning at 10 o'clock officially launches the Portmore leg of the Social Development Commission's (SDC) All-Island 20/20 Cricket tournament. Teams will be playing a 10-over game, with each facing five overs. The winners move on and the losers are eliminated. However, the eight elite teams, including defending parish champs Bridgeport and Portsmouth, will advance whether they win or lose games, therefore, teams are actually fighting for eight places. The Super 16, which is the next leg, is scheduled for next Saturday.

On Thursday, Daleyon Campbell, acting coordinator of community development for planning and programmes, said that some 17 teams have registered for the rally, and expects to reach the national target of 40 by Saturday morning. He added: "The competition is geared at lifting the spirit of communities across Jamaica. There will also be rallies in 14 other parishes across the island."

Williams' goal feast continues

Toddler Kymani Williams continues to blaze the goalscoring trail in the inaugural INSPORT/SDF-sponsored Clarendon Likkle Schools football competition, for his team, Paisley Basic School.

Williams, who scored four goals when his team defeated Faith Basic School 5-2 in the competition opener last week, netted all six goals in his team's latest 6-1 win over Buttons & Bows Basic earlier this week.

The competition, the first of its type, is part of a two-parish pilot project to launch a football competition for students in the Under-five age group. St Catherine is the next parish of the pilot project.

Despite his exploits, young Williams had to share the spotlight with Gerron Bailey, who also netted six goals. Bailey's goals came in Race Track's 10-2 whipping of Wesleyan Basic. In other games played on Monday, Evans Basic drew 2-2 with Rock Ministries while Santana Reid scored twice in Treadlight's 2-0 win over Bushy Park.

In Thursday's round, Tajae Edwards scored five goals as Effortville beat Una Mighty 6-0; Sevens Road edged Faith Basic 2-1; Hugh Sherlock got the better of Buttons & Bows 1-0; Mineral Heights Christian Kinder Prep defeated Otis Spence Basic 2-0; and Mineral Heights Missionary won 2-1 over Hazard Drive Basic.

Games scheduled for next Monday at Jamalco Sports Club: West Land vs Treadlight at 1 p.m.; Rock Ministries vs Bushy Park at 1:30; Evans vs Race Track at 2 p.m.; and leaders Paisley vs Una Might at 2:30 p.m.

New Bowens take Clarendon Major League

New Bowens lifted the 2010 Captain's Bakery-sponsored Clarendon Major league after defeating Gimme-Me-Bit 3-2 in the final game of the season on Thursday.

New Bowens finished on 45 points, edging nearest challengers Milk River by two points. Only a defeat could have spoiled the party-like atmosphere at home, where they hosted the game against Gimme-Me-Bit, who ended fourth overall.

Maxwell Patrick gave them the perfect start, scoring in the 12th minute. The title seemed a foregone conclusion when their leading marksman, Leon Callaghan, collected a brace of goals in the 56th and 61st minutes. Callaghan's two goals carried his tally to 17, which makes him the league's leading goalscorer.

At 3-0, Gimme-Me-Bit refused to throw in the towel and even caused anxious moments for the home crowd, pulling back two goals through Evon Robinson in the 66th minute and Kevin Ramdial in the 88th. As news broke that Milk River had collected full points after Sunnyside failed to show for an encounter at Curatoe Hill, New Bowens held on for a deserving win and title.

They will now collect the $180,000 title prize as well as advance to next season's South Central Confed Super League.

Jamalco Open league semis tomorrow

The semi-finals of the Jamalco Clarendon Open League will be played tomorrow at the Mineral Heights Sports Complex.

In the opening game at 3:30 p.m. Jamalco take on Holmwood 'B', while in the feature game an hour later defending champions Windalco entertain Mico University.

In the quarter-finals last weekend, Jamalco eased by Holmwood 'A' 42-29, Windalco whipped Optimist 49-19, Mico got the better of Slipe Police Youth Club 43-23, while Holmwood 'B' outlasted Denbigh 'A' 37-33 in a closely fought contest.

Local netball fans will get to see a number of national players, past and present, in action. From Jamalco, there is Elaine Davis, captain Marsha Murphy, Nadine Bryan and Nadia Brown. Mico University, one four new teams in the competition this season, boast national goal attack Venecia Walker.

From Holmwood 'B' there is Denene Taylor while Windalco will parade goal defence Tracy Robinson, Viola Francis and goal shoot Anakay Griffiths.

The competition has been sponsored to the tune of $330,000, with tomorrow's winners expected to pocket $50,000.