Jamalco, Tivoli hunt Open League netball title

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

A mouth-watering clash is expected when defending champions Jamalco and Tivoli Gardens 'A' clash in today's final of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA)/Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS)/Sunshine Open League at the Leila Robinson courts starting at 6:30 p.m.

The clash will be preceded by the 'B' league final between Jetsetters 'A' and Blades United 'A' starting at 5:30 p.m.

The encounter between Tivoli and Jamalco will be very intriguing as both teams are evenly matched in all departments. One of the main battles will be between Tivoli's defender Kasey Evering and Jamalco's goal shooter Elaine Davis. In another interesting matchup, Jamalco's defender Nicole Aiken will seek to get the better of Tivoli's goal shooter Sabrina Spence.

The Winston Nevers-coached Jamalco will start the game as favourites to win today's final, after defeating Tivoli by four goals in the preliminary round of the competition. Jamalco secured their place in the final with an exciting 29-28 victory over UWI Pelicans.

raring to go

"Our semi-final game against the Pelicans has prepared us for this game, and so we very confident and raring to go," said Nevers.

"We are going for our third straight title and so everyone is ready for the task that lies ahead of them," he said.

Despite his confidence, Nevers added he will not be taking their opponents lightly.

"It is going to be a good game because Tivoli are hungry for the title," Nevers said. "Tivoli are also playing good netball, but we are up for the challenge because we have been preparing for this all season.

Sylvester Campbell, Tivoli's coach, is also very optimistic about his team's chances.

"We just have to apply ourselves and minimise our mistakes and take care of the ball, convert our chances, and once we do this, then we should win the game," Campbell said.

Campbell added: "We know that any of these teams can win on the day, but we know that we have to perform on the day to win the game."