Forbes

AFTER SEVERAL attempts, the curtain will finally come down on the 2007 Western Hotels Sports Association All-island netball competition this afternoon.

After previous postponements due to the rescheduled general election and the advent of Hurricane Dean, defending champions Grand Lido Braco Resort and Spa will face off with preseason favourites St. Ann Jamaica Bauxite Partners in tonight's championship match at the Montego Bay Cricket Club, starting at 7.00 p.m. It will be a repeat of last year's final which Grand Lido Braco Resort and Spa won 45-41.

The Braco Belles had a mixed season, losing a few matches in round-robin play and even narrowly scraping past a very good Sandals Whitehouse European Village Resort and Spa team 29-28 in the quarter-finals before advancing to the final due to the inexplicable withdrawal of the No. 1 seeded team, Digital Storm Jamaica Limited.

In tonight's final, they will welcome the return and services of the Caribbean's No. 1 goal attack Simone Forbes, who almost single-handedly won the title for them last year, and former national senior players Margaret Byfield-Lawrence, Tamara Hylton, Nickeisha Connolly and possibly current national player Sasha-Gay Henry.

The defending champions will also rely on Jodyann Ffrench, Nichala Gibson, Marion Campbell and former National Under-16 player Cerene Wallace.

This year, netball pundits hint at St. Ann Jamaica Bauxite Partners certainty of a first title as they will have in their line-up National senior players Kasey Evering, Romelda Aitken, Paula Thompson and Marvetta Murray, to name a few.

They are also expected to be bolstered by players from Tivoli and Jamalco, making them a formidable team. Co-managers Wayne Brown and Oneil Nelson say this is the strongest team they have assembled and feel this is their year despite facing a rejuvenated Braco team.