DEFENDING champions Holmwood Technical beat Manchester High 43-37 to claim the 2021/2022 Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) rural area Under-19 netball title in the final at Manchester school’s courts on Thursday, March 31.

Both schools had reached the final after winning their respective semi-finals last Monday, also at Manchester school. Holmwood crushed St Thomas Technical 66-4, while Manchester held off a late charge from Glenmuir High to win the nail-biting encounter 39-37.

In Thursday’s final, Holmwood led at every interval. They were up 9-8 at the end of the first quarter; 21-15 at half-time; and 29-27 at the third quarter.

Holmwood Coach Carline Graham-Powell was proud to retain the title.

“This is our 13th Under-19 triumph since 2005 and we have played our opponents Manchester in finals and have never lost to them. The only time we lost to Manchester was 2016 in a semi-final clash,” said Graham-Powell.

She was impressed by how her players pulled away strongly in the fourth and final quarter, outscoring Manchester to win comfortably in the end.

Holmwood are set to clash with urban area winners Gaynstead High in the all-island play-off in Kingston on Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

Simone Smith, the coach of Manchester, congratulated Holmwood on their victory, but said one reason her team lost the match was because of too many turnovers.

She added: “The team failed to capitalise on many turnovers, [and] the shooters were not shooting [well] and this allowed Holmwood to [take the win].”

The principal scorers for Holmwood were Jaden Swaby, who netted 36 goals from 41 attempts, and Kadijah Wright, who got seven goals from 13 efforts.

For Manchester High, Melaine Francis scored 19 goals from 24 attempts, while Danielle Laidlaw scored 11 times from 15 attempts.

Meanwhile, in the third-placed play-off, Glenmuir defeated St Thomas Technical 30-11.

— Gerald Reid