Saturday, February 21, 2015

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015 SPORTS THE STAR
JERMAINE LANNAMAN
STAR Writer
J amaica Franchise coach Junior Bennett said,
despite falling to fourth in the four-day WICB
Professional League standings with four rounds
of matches to go, Jamaica Franchise have not given
up on the title.
Jamaica are on 57 points, 35 off leaders Guyana
Jaguars. Defending champions Barbados Pride, 77,
and Windward Islands Volcanoes, 64, are second
and third, respectively.
“We need to start winning matches, and if we do
so, and get adequate amounts of batting points,
anything is possible,” said Bennett.
“It will not be easy, but, beginning with Trinidad
who we face this weekend, we can attempt to get in
right, especially batting-wise.”
Jamaica, who last put claim to the title two sea-
sons ago, are coming off two defeats.
The first was to Guyana at Sabina Park two weeks
ago, and the other, last week away to the Windward
Island Volcanoes.
They now have three wins, two losses, and a
draw.
“Our batting has been our main problem, and is
something we need to address. We are yet to see a
batsman score a hundred this season,” lamented
Bennett.
“It is something the selectors have taken a look at
by trying different combinations, but it has not
worked.”
A total 12 points are offered for a win, and teams
can gain as much as eight bonus points for first
innings batting and bowling displays.
Bennet t hopeful
despite
Jamaica slide
FILE
Junior Bennett
LIVINGSTON SCOTT
STAR Writer
H igh-flying Tivoli Gardens take on out-of-form
Montego Bay United in a key battle for third place in
the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) tomorrow at
Wespow Park at 3 p.m.
The west Kingston-based Tivoli got off to an indifferent
start this season, failing to win consistently in the first
round and a half.
However, since late December, the Alvin Shaw coached
team have recorded five wins from eight games, including two
wins over second-place and preseason favourites Waterhouse.
They look a certain semi-final bet if they maintain this form
for the rest of the round.
Despite this, he is not taking his opponent lightly and expects
a difficult encounter.
“MoBay is a quality team and they can turn up on any
given day, so we won’t take anything for granted,” he
told STAR Sports.
MoBay sits third on 40 points, two more than Tivoli, and one
adrift of second-place Waterhouse.
However, their poor run started at the turn of the year when
key players went away and returned late.
WINNING CONSISTENTLY
Since then, they’ve tasted victory just once, beating Boys’
Town 2-0 recently for their first win in seven games.
Coach Carlos Sanz says they are finding the scoring boots
again and he expects them to start winning consistently and
even climb further up the table.
“The only problem we had is that we were not scoring goals,
but we changed our form on that because we got four goals in
the last two matches. So the team is ready to continue its win-
ning performance at home.”
In other games, Humble Lion will start favourites against
Rivoli at Effortville begining at 5 p.m.
Humble Lion lost for the first time in 12 matches when they
were beaten by Boys’ Town on Sunday, and although they
have defeated Rivoli 1-0 twice this season, coach Donovan
Duckie knows the Spanish Town team is one of the most intense
in the league and always requires full attention.
Leaders Arnett Gardens are expected to end their two-match
losing run when they take on bottom-of-the-table Barbican.
Barbican ended their 10-match win streak.
Arnett lead the table with 48 points, while Barbican sits last
with 21 points.
Eighth-place Cavalier (33) have put their winless second-
round nightmare behind them and will go for their fourth
straight victory against struggling Sporting Central (24) at Juci
Park.
The game between Reno (21) and Boys’ Town (26) can go
either way. Both teams have been far from consistent, but Boys’
Town have shown a greater ability to win games and will start
favourites.
Tivoli Gardens face champs
MoBay in key RSPL battle
Shaw
Carlos Aitor Garcia Sanz