Rudolph Brown
Friendship A's captain Denise Palmer (left) tries unsuccessfully to intercept a pass being caught by Seneca goal shoot Audrey Edwards. Seneca's Jodi-Ann Ffrench and opposing player Andrea Williams (right) watch the play. Seneca won 21-10 to qualify for the JNBS Open League quarter-finals.Charmaine Austin, Staff ReporterSENECA KEPT cool heads to breeze into the quarter-finals of the JNBS Open League netball competition with a 21-10 over Friendship A in a play-off at the Leila Robinson Courts yesterday.
They join Jetsetters A, former champions Jamalco, Windalco, defending champions Waulgrovians, Police A, Tivoli A and Hampshire for quarter-final duties which start next Saturday.
Seneca almost missed the chance to qualify, arriving at least eight minutes after the scheduled start.
However, they quickly warmed to the challenge, scoring three clear goals before Friendship A got off the mark.
Complacency soon set in and sensing their opponents' lapse, Friendship capitalised.
One more turnover and Seneca could have opened a bakery. They led 3-2 but soon increased their tally through the determined efforts of their defence and the accurate shooting of former national youth representative Jodi-Ann Ffrench.
Seneca's defence combined with the attacking strength of the wily shooter were poison to the opposition.
Taking a strong lead at the start of the second half, Seneca did not take long to race to their comfortable win.
Friendship's captain Denise Palmer, playing at goal keep, did her best to steer her team towards qualifying but her efforts were not enough. Centre Timo Milward ran the length of the court effortlessly, making enough interceptions to keep Friendship in the game.
Seneca's manager Dave Johnson, following the action closely from the sidelines, had mixed feelings at the end of the match.
"It was a good game but the girls didn't play the way they can. This team hasn't trained together since the beginning of the season. If we can get them together then they will be far better," Johnson said.
"It was a good win though and we're happy it turned out that way," he said.
