COUPLES Tower Isle and Sandals Royal Plantation both scored big wins in the Sandals Resorts International St Ann/St Mary Business House Football Competition on Tuesday at Drax Hall.

Defending champions Couples Tower Isle blanked Beaches Ocho Rios 7-0, thanks to a hat-trick from in-form striker Mauracio Gordon and danger man Gregory Tate slamming in 2.

The match, however, was not as one-sided as the scoreline suggests, as Beaches had two glorious chances in the first four minutes of play, but failed to convert. Once Gordon fired in the first, however, the flood-gates opened, knocking the stuffing out of the hotel men, for whom midfielder Raheem McIntosh looked a solid player with speed and deft passing.

In the feature match, Sandals Royal Plantation turned in a classy display in their opening match of the competition, defeating Jewel Dunn’s River 6-, and were it not for faulty finishing would have won by a much larger margin.

Sandals Royal Plantation’s Captain Sheldon Ashpole was one of the star players in the game, as the hotel team put on a clinical display of speed and short passing, and could be one of the surprise teams of this year’s competition.

The competition continues today with two important matches. At 4:00 pm Jewel Runaway Bay clash with Police, while in the feature at 6:00 pm Sandals Ochi Beach Resort will be looking for their first win against a classy North-Eeast Regional Health Authority (NERHA) aggregation.

Jewel will be led by skipper Dwayne Gopaulsingh, who has been one of the quality midfielders in the competition so far. In their match, Sandals Ochi will be looking to top scorer Roy Rickets to open their winning account.

Tomorrow, Sandals Royal Plantation and Beaches Ocho Rios will meet at 4:00 pm in a clash of the Sandals hotel family, while Margaritaville MoBay and NERHA do battle at 6:00 pm.