X-Ceed still second

Vincentian Netball Club X-Ceed maintained their second position in the recently held Helen of the West Netball Festival in St. Lucia.{{more}}

A combination of heavy rains and a decision by organisers to curtail the competition may have robbed the Vincentian club of the opportunity to unseat defending champions Elite Sports Club of host nation St. Lucia.

The lone Vincentian representative in the seven-team festival, X- Ceed had advanced to the semi final stage after beating long standing St. Lucian club Shamrock by a whopping 73-12 in their final preliminary match, to set up a meeting with the said Shamrock.

However, heavy rains in St. Lucia washed out the proceedings at the Vigie Multi Purpose Sports Complex, as was the other semi final, which was to have been between Elite and the British Army team A.

X- Ceed finished with five wins and a single loss.

X-Ceed previously won from British Royal Navy Team B, 76-16, British Royal Navy Team A, 60-26, Avengers of St. Lucia 46-25 and another St. Lucian team Eagles 55-17.

Their only loss was to defending champions Elite, 48-57.

X- Ceed was hoping for another square off in the final to put their nemesis to rest, but that was not to be, as organizers used the first round results to determine the final standings.

This saw Elite pocketing US$3,000 and X- Ceed US $2,000, third place team Shamrock earned US$1,000, and fourth place British Army A, US$500.

X- Ceed was represented by a fourteen member team which comprised eleven players and three officials.

Nine of the players were part of last year’s runner up team.

The players who represented X- Ceed are defenders: Annette King, Tonique Bowens, Julia Cumberbatch, Perlitha Sylvan, and Helen Yammie.

The centre players are former national captain and stalwart player Joanne Ballantyne, Shanice Daniel, and Ruth Ann Williams, with the shooters being Jasmine Frank, Tamara Samuel, and Mary Ann Fredericks.

X- Ceed is being coached by Godfrey Harry, with Sylvorn Lewis-Harry as chaperone, and Anthony Jack as the travelling Umpire.

Harry is of the opinion that given another shot at Elite, all things being equal, his team could have emerged the winners. (RT)