MAY PEN, Clarendon — Holmwood Technical stayed on course to defend their ISSA/Digicel Rural Area Senior League netball title following a 38-35 semi-final victory over Manchester High. But it was Denbigh High that sparked wild celebrations yesterday at Clarendon Park after both their junior and senior teams advanced to the finals.

The Christine Bartley-coached outfits were made to work extremely hard in both semi-finals, but eventually pulled through for two thrilling victories over Herbert Morrison Technical and Titchfield High, respectively.

Denbigh will now play Knox College – who overcame a pesky Manchester High in their semi-final – in the Junior League decider and Holmwood in the Senior League.

“We knew it was going to be really tough, especially against a good Titchfield team,” noted Barley, “and as you can see the game was so close that it really could have gone either way. But the players came out even more determined than last week to get the job done. I am really happy for them.”

In the Senior League, Denbigh were second best for the entire first quarter as Titchfield — aggressive and flawless under rim — opened up a three-point lead, which sustained them until half-time, despite losing the second quarter (10-8).

The third quarter was, however, Denbigh’s best segment. They put in an almost perfect shift to force their opponents into a number of turnovers, eventually establishing a six-point lead which proved decisive in handing them the match (38-37) after Titchfield stormed back to win the fourth quarter (12-8).

In the Junior League, Herbert Morrison certainly had their moments, but their biggest mistake was allowing Denbigh to establish a 10-point (22-11) first-quarter lead.

Despite rallying to reduce the deficit at various moments of the match, pegging back Denbigh was just too much of a challenge and it eventually took a toll on their fitness, which paved the way for their Clarendon opponents to re-establish their 10-point (33-23) winning lead.

Meanwhile, Manchester High put in a gallant effort to join Denbigh in both finals, but fell just short of the mark in both games.

Widely expected to be swept aside by Knox, the Manchester juniors amazingly reduced a 13-point lead to force a nail-biting finish, and had it not been for two late enforced errors, they might have been the ones celebrating a 22-20 victory.

Their seniors were equally impressive against Holmwood, but the experience of the defending champions eventually proved too much for them.

“We are just giving thanks to be in the finals because it has been a really tough year for us,” said Carline Graham-Powell, the Holmwood coach, in reference to the recent minibus crash which claimed the life of her Junior League captain, Shakeria Muschett.

Meanwhile, the finals, which were originally set for Friday at Clarendon Park, have been pushed back to Tuesday. However, further amendments could still be made, with at least two teams taking issue with both the date and the venue.