In Your Neighbourhood

Rowe's are 2012skittles champions

Rowe's Strikers turned back the challenge of defending champions Eagles Strikers to win the Wray & Nephew White Overproof-sponsored Premier League skittles final 6-4 at Bourbon House on Windward Road, east Kingston, on Sunday.

For their efforts, Rowe's Strikers captured the $80,000 prize and Wray & Nephew Trophy, while Eagles received $45,000 for second and Waltham Strikers $30,000 for third. Waltham defeated home team Eastern All-Stars 6-4 in the play-off for third, as Eastern picked up $15,000 for having finished fourth.

In the Major League final, Mister C 'B' from Spanish Town defeated former champions Mystix 6-3 to claim the $50,000 prize and trophy. Mystix secured $30,000 for second, while The Dip from Gregory Park received $15,000, having beaten Olympic Strikers 6-3 in the third-place play-off.

Both teams were locked four-all at the end of the eighth game. However, veteran Clifford 'Shakes' Campbell defeated former Eagles captain Dane 'World Youth' Jones to move Rowe's Strikers in sight of the title. Veteran Joe Patterson then sealed the issue, beating Ralston Robinson as Rowe's Strikers denied Eagles their third consecutive hold on the title.

Rowe's captain Ravel Montaque said the victory was in honour of their ailing founder, Alfred Rowe, who was present at the match.

BH cricket 20/20semis tomorrow

The semi-finals of the Business House Twenty20 cricket competition will be played tomorrow at Chalmers Avenue, with LIME vs defending league champions National Housing Trust (NHT) in a big clash at 10 a.m. and Sagicor vs National Water Commission (NWC) in the second match at 2 p.m.

The winners will meet in the final on Sunday, October 7.

Meanwhile, defending champions Jamalco and LIME advanced to the final of the Best Dressed Chicken KO 30-over competition last Sunday, following easy victories over NHT and Sagicor, respectively.

AT MICO: Jamalco beat NHT by 25 runs. NHT 128 all out off 25 overs - Frederick Hermitt 29, Erron Downer 26, Shawnlee Earle 21 not out; Peat Salmon, Sherwayne Dixon and Peter Ray Lewis taking two wickets each.

Jamalco 129 for five off 29 overs - Dixon 29, Winston 'Sala' Osbourne 26, Errol Thomas 18. Earle 2-12.

AT EMMET PARK: LIME defeated Sagicor by 70 runs in the second semi-final. LIME 184 all out in the 30th over - Damion Jacobs 56, national player Andre McCarthy 47, Marvin Lobban 18; Akbar Moodie 3-12. Sagicor 114 for eight off their 30 overs - Garfield Brown 31, Brian Wright 28, Kemar Marshall 14; Carlos Green 3-13.

Meanwhile, the semi-finals of the Reggae Jammin 50-over league will be played on Sunday, September 23. LIME will meet Sagicor and Jamalco will oppose former champions Jamaica Broilers.

The Gleaner now 16-0 in BH 3-on-3 basketball

The Gleaner continued their unbeaten run in Division Two of the Business House 3-on-3 basketball competition, whipping NCB 'B' 37-20 at the Stadium Courts on Monday to make it 16 wins in a row.

As usual, twin shooters Keneil Allen and Omar Wolfe dominated the boards with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Theo Johnson chipped in with five points, while Brent Gordon came off the bench to score two points.

The Gleaner will go for their 17th win on Monday when they take on Bank of Jamaica at the Stadium Courts.

Domino team for New York

A Jamaica domino team managed by the Jamaica Domino Council Association will tour New York from September 7-9 to play a series of matches against a select US team at the Old Police Officers' Club in the Bronx.

The Jamaica National Domino Council is an affiliate of the International Council of Domino, which is based in New York. The team will return to Jamaica on Thursday, September 13.

BH divisionalfootball finals today

The divisional finals of the Kingston and St Andre Football Association (KSAFA)/Western Sports football competition take place today with unbeaten defending champions Petrojam opposing the 2009 champions Scotiabank Group in the Division One final at Emmet Park, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Prior to this match, one-time kingpins GraceKennedy will meet NCB in the Division Two final at 1:30 p.m.

Petrojam, league champions in 2010 and 2011, are not only seeking a hat-trick of titles, but will be gunning to complete the double, having clipped Wisynco 2-1 in the KO final last month.

On Monday, Petrojam beat Wisynco 1-0 in semi-final action at the NWC playing field, thanks to a 45th-minute goal from David Stultz, shortly after Aphas Bernard had missed a penalty.

In the other semi-final at UWI Bowl last Saturday, Scotiabank clipped UWI 6-5 on penalties, after both had played to a goalless draw in regulation and extra time.

Parkway await Mash Way

Defending champs Parkway will have high hopes as they face newcomers Mash Way at 2 p.m. in the opening game of a double-header in the Fenley Douglas-sponsored Waterford Corner League football competition at the Waterford playing field tomorrow. Parkway have three points from two matches, while Mash Way have a point from two tries.

In the feature match at 4 p.m., Duncans face off with former champs against Oneity.

Meanwhile, Oneity made a winning start to their 2012 campaign after they dispatched Little America 2-0 in Zone A. Jermaine Hewitt and Sharmar Dawson scored for Oneity; it was Little America's second straight loss. In another game, Mash Way were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw against Wigton. Warren Anderson scored for Mash Way, while Adrian Evans netted for Wigton.

Portmore Pines win cricket crown

Portmore Pines captured the Mayor's Trophy with little effort as they defeated Ken's Wildflower by eight wickets in the final of the Portmore Cricket Festival Twenty20 tournament at the Bridgeport sports ground last Sunday.

Ken's batted first and posted 139-7 off 20 overs, as Sandie Brown, 43, and Junior Stewart, 40, made most runs. Stephen Casey (2-23) and Andre Bryce (2-23) shared four wickets for Pines. In reply, captain Terrence Brown made a blistering 44 off just 22 balls to give his side impetus at the top. Kashane Roberts and Marshall Marsh scored identical 37 runs in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 78, as Portmore Pines cantered home at 140-2 in just 15.4 overs.

Big domino clash

Unbeaten Westchester Rudiz (16 points) will place their 100 per cent win record on the line when they clash with defending champs Passagefort United in the feature match of the Colin Fagan-sponsored South East St Catherine Constituency Domino League, at Westchester Avenue tomorrow.

Passagefort have so far amassed eight points from three games and are joint third with Ken's Wildflower, who lost to Westchester last Sunday. Ken's should score an easy win over Garveymeade, at the Garveymeade Sports Club. Garveymeade have not shown any real sting since the start of the league. Second-place Waterford United (12 points) play Portmore Gardens All Stars at Waterford Parkway, while Rising Sun may fancy their chances against Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Community Centre. All games begin at 1 p.m.

Battle on for semi-final spot

The fourth and final semi-finalist in the Power of Faith Ministries (PFM) Church Netball League should be known today when Zone One teams Lighthouse Assembly (three points) clash with Holiness Apostolic (zero) at 1 p.m., at the same venue. Lighthouse, the overwhelming favourites, will advance to the semis with a win.

Meanwhile, Power of Faith topped Zone One with maximum nine points from three games after they defeated Glad Tidings Open Bible 32-9 last Saturday. PFM's goal attack, Debbie Cogiel, had a game-high 19 goals from 25 attempts. She was supported by goal shooter Yvonne Williams, on 9/14 shooting and substitute shooter Zonya Josephs, 4/9. Shakira Chambers had nine goals from 11 attempts for Glad Tidings.

The second game saw Waltham Park overpower Cedar Grove 21-8, which resulted in Waltham Park moving to the top of Zone Two with maximum nine points to advance as the elite team, while Cedar Grove came through as the second-place team with six points.

JaBA-KFC Elite Academy scholarships

Number-one pick in the Jamaica Basketball Association-KFC Elite Academy draft, Shevon Thompson, received a scholarship to Midland Junior College in Texas. The seven-footer, a former Vere Technical student, has shown exceptional talent.

Roshane Hamil, the six-feet 11 inches former Ocho Rios High student, the number-five pick in the JaBA-KFC Elite Academy Draft, gained a scholarship to Redlands Junior College. The JaBA-KFC Elite programme utilised the best high school coaches in Jamaica to help develop talent, at the University of Technology during the last eight months.

The programme was also used to help strengthen their educational capabilities. JaBA relocated the young men to Kingston where they attended Quality Academics, which offered the student athletes free classes for full enrolment, CXCs, extra classes and SAT preparations.

They were both exposed to weights training at Spartan Health Club. Other innovative tools and methodologies were used to enhance personal, physical and academic skills of the two young men and, by extension, the 28 other student athletes.

"JaBA and KFC and its other partners are proud of these young men who now have a shot at acquiring their degree and possibly furthering their basketball careers," JaBA said in a statement.

New Bowens top JFL finals

New Bowens claimed the 2012 Jamalco Football League (JFL) title after defeating defending champions Top Hill 2-0 in the finals played at Jamalco Sports Club.

Both goals were scored in the first half and came from the boots of Richard Allen (19th minute) and Deswick 'Fast Car' Ennis in the 36th.

Top Hill, who were celebrating a third straight trip to the final, were favourites but looked nervous as they rushed their attacks and were frustrated at not getting clear passes to their feared striker and the league's leading goal scorer, Andrew Issacs. Issacs had scored 16 goals in six previous matches.

On the other hand, New Bowens displayed more energy, creativity and a generally more settled approach. From very early in the game, they came under pressure, but goalkeeper Rodrick Ludford impressed with a few fine saves.

The first goal actually came from a quick counter-attack after Ludford made a spectacular save off the line. The second goal came via an error when a ball slipped from the grasp of the Top Hill goalkeeper's hand and the fleet-footed Ennis capitalised from the edge of the six-yard box.

Porus headline Peter Bunting quarter-finals

The quarter-finals of the Peter Bunting Central Manchester constituency football competition will be played tomorrow at two venues, featuring double-headers.

At the Porus Community Centre, Land Settlement is up against Blue Mountain at 1:30 p.m., while the hosts Porus entertain Heartease in the feature at 3:30.

Hanbury will host the other quarter-finals with Mandeville Police in a face-off with Inverness and the hosts doing battle against Old England.

Porus will begin this phase as overwhelming favourites after scoring five straight wins. They have now scored 21 goals and conceded three.

Parkview, Chef's in qualifying battle

The last remaining semi-final spot in the Tait's Pharmacy-sponsored Clarendon Business House league will be decided tomorrow morning at Mineral Heights Sports Complex.

Three games are scheduled to start at 7 a.m., but none more crucial than the Zone Two matchup between Parkview and Chef's Restaurant. Young's Sports are already the confirmed qualifier on 15 points. They ended their preliminary fixtures earlier this week with a 3-3 draw against Chef's. The point earned by Chef's in that game puts them in pole position to advance with Young's, as they only require a draw. Parkview, a point behind, are in a must-win situation.

The two second-round spots from Zone One have been taken by Farmers and Daily Delicious. Both teams ended on 14 points, ut Farmers have the better goal difference.

Peter Bunting netball league semis

The semi-finals of the Peter Bunting Central Manchester netball league will be hosted at Blue Mountain Sporting Complex later today.

In the first game slated for 3 p.m., G-Strikers will take on Purple Strikers, while in the feature at 4 p.m. Mandeville Police match skills against the high-riding Legend.

In the quarter-finals last weekend, Legend hammered Royal Flat 64-10, G-Strikers won 31-19 over Davyton and Mandeville Police topped Bellefield 32-19. Purple Strikers qualified without scoring a hoop as Broadleaf failed to show.