NORMAN Manley, as well as Excelsior High and Gaynstead High, kept their unbeaten streak intact following victories at the end of the second round of the 2018 Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Urban High Schools Junior and Senior netball competition, at the Leila Robinson Courts on Wednesday.

The unbeaten trio moved into the semi-finals for both the Juniors and Seniors, which are scheduled to be played next Wednesday at the Leila Robinson Courts.

For the semi-finals in the Juniors, Gaynstead will face St Hugh’s, while Norman Manley go up against defending champions St Catherine High to begin at 2:00 pm.

Defending Seniors champions Excelsior High will face St Catherine High, with Gaynstead taking on The Queen’s School to start at 3:00 pm.

Christopher Smart, coach of Excelsior High, said although they are confident, they will not take any chances with St Catherine as they are a good team.

Dalton Hinds, coach of Gaynstead, said that he was happy for the wins of both teams and will be looking to come out victorious and seal places in the finals.

“Our chances are very good in both the Juniors and Seniors, and we look towards making it through to the finals. Although Gaynstead Under-16 and Under-19 teams are both unbeaten throughout the competition, I won’t be taking my opponents lightly,” Hinds said.

He warned his players that these semi-finals are new games and other teams will always step up their performance against them.

“We will be taking it from there as we should be expecting former champions Queen’s to be challenging us strongly, as both teams will be facing each other for the first time this season,” added Hinds.

He added that his main goal shooter, Astia Brooks has not played since the start of the competition, but he expects to play her in the semi-finals and final.

Wayne Wallace, coach of Norman Manley, said he is very confident that the team will beat St Catherine in the semi-finals, although he is expecting a good challenge from his opponents.

“I won’t be taking St Catherine lightly as they are the defending champions and would want to win to have another chance of retaining their title; but Norman Manley should be hard to beat,” Wallace said.

Phyllis Thompson, coach of St Catherine, said it’s the first time the team will be facing Norman Manley in the Juniors, and is hoping that the girls can come out with the win.

“Though Norman Manley is unbeaten, the team is going out there to perform and will be looking for a win. We are not expected to make it easy for our opponents as they will have to play hard to win,” Thompson said.