ÐÓ°ÉÐÔ°É

All four coaches are oozing confidence that they will be crowned All-Island Senior and Junior netball champions when the final set of schoolgirls matches are played at Manchester High School on Friday.

The contests pit Rural Junior champions Holmwood Technical against their Urban counterparts St Hugh's High with Urban Senior winners St Catherine High battling Rural conquerors Glenmuir High.

Both Rayon Reid of Glenmuir and Phylis Thompson of Catherine are assured that they will be the queens of Senior netball in Jamaica, after last Friday's exciting finals inside the National Indoor Sports Centre.

"We are really looking ahead for this final and the players are ready to step up the pace. Don't underestimate the little team from Clarendon, as we are in it to bring it," said Reid.

Thompson countered: "The game will be very competitive. My team will be leaving everything on the court because it will be their last game for the season. The girls are in high spirits and I trust and believe that they will give it their all."

The game is expected to be a humdinger. Both Glenmuir and St Catherine are good in defence and based on their performance in the Rural and Urban finals on Friday, the game will depend on the shooters who can hold their nerves best.

Meanwhile, in the Junior competition, Holmwood coach Carlene Powell-Graham is going into her first attempt at winning the All-Island under-16 title, after being at the helm of several of their victories at the senior level. She is using this as a motivation.

"We have won the Rural Under-16 title on several occasions but have never won the All-Island title and we are looking forward to this clash with St Hugh's and we are going to have it," she said confidently.

St Hugh's had a surprisingly easy nine-goal victory over Immaculate in the Urban Junior final and coach Nardia Hanson is optimistic that they can once again win the All-Island title.

"Our opponent will have home advantage here, but we are not concerned about this. For us, we did not expect that easy win over Immaculate in the Urban final and the girls are ready to bring it on once more.

"We have a very good attacking team and once the girls stay focussed, keep their composure and take care of their centre passes we will take care of business," Hanson said.