Published 19 October 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Parsons extend supremacy over Unity in Constituency Number Seven Domino League
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, October 19, 2018 (PLP PR Media Inc.) — Parsons Domino Club, one of the two teams from Constituency Number Six taking part in the 23rd edition of the annual Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League competition, on Thursday October 18 edged out the immediate past champions Unity in a close and hard fought first encounter in the best of three semi-finals beating them 13-11.
The two are in the semi-finals of the longest running domino league competition in the Federation, having finished in the second and third positions at the end of the two rounds of the round-robin stage of the competition. Parsons finished in the second place with 109 points, while Unity was in the third place with only one point adrift with 108 points.
Lodge Community Centre in Lodge Project was the venue of the two semi-final matches which were played simultaneously. In the other semi-final match, defending champions Lodge who had finished at the top with 116 points faced the fourth placed Unstoppable who had accumulated 88 points. Lodge had an easy time as they beat Unstoppable 13-4.
The match between Parsons and Unity had started with Parsons taking an early comfortable lead at one time, 5-1. The immediate former champions of the league, Unity, furiously fought back and at one time the game tied at 6-6. Parsons, who had beaten Unity both in the first and second rounds at this year’s round robin stage, surged ahead and pushed the game to 11-8.
A late thrust by Unity saw them reduce the deficit to 11-9; 12-10; and 12-11. Parsons who were fielding two seniors on their team, cousins Elvis Norford and Constantine Norford, jammed the brakes very hard on Unity and at 11:18 pm there were shouts of joy coming out of table one when its two players on the Parsons team declared a win that left their team the overall winners at 13-11. Scorer for this match was Glenda Romney of Parsons.
The match between defending champions Lodge and Unstoppable was a replica of their second round encounter at the round robin stage which was played on Tuesday October 16 at the same venue when Lodge triumphed 13-4. Nothing really changed at the semi-finals level. The early stages saw a close game as Lodge had a slim lead of 4-3. Lodge added three points while Unstoppable only added one point to take the game to 7:4 in their favour.
From that stage onwards, Lodge continually pummelled Unstoppable players who appeared to have thrown in the towel even though they held on to the very end when at 10:21 pm, Javed Thomas of Lodge playing from table number two shouted, ‘it’s over’. The defending champions had won with a 13-4 score line. Scorer for the match was Diane Byron-Monzac of Giants Domino Club.
The second take of the best of three semi-finals will be on Tuesday October 23 at the same venue, the Lodge Community Centre in Lodge Project. If Parsons will stretch their giant-killer moment when they come up against Unity on Tuesday, the team from Constituency Number Six will sail straight into the finals of the annual Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League competition, the second time after 2015. But should Unity win, the two teams will face each other for the final take of the best of three semi-finals on Thursday October 25 at the same venue.
According to Constituency Number Seven Dr the Hon Timothy Harris Domino League coordinator, Calvin Farrell, same rule will apply when it comes to the second take match in the best of three semi-finals between Lodge and Unstoppable. If defending champions Lodge win on Tuesday October 23, they will automatically move into the finals, but a win by Unstoppable will trigger the final of the best of three semi-finals.
Meantime, clash of the best of the rest will be on Monday October 22 at the Lodge Community Centre, where two pre-semi-final matches will be played simultaneously. Giants will face Small Corner Bar, and Molineux will face Guinness. Team with the best win will get a bye into the finals, while the other winner will play against Sylvers for the other semi-final at the same venue at a date yet to be determined.
ENDS
Pix captions:
1: Elvis Norford of Parsons when his team met Unity in the first of the best of three semi-finals. Opposite him is his cousin, Constantine Norford as they held Unity players at bay.
2: O’Niel Thomas of Lodge did not take any chances even though his team would have beaten Unstoppable twice at the round-robin stages.
3: The powerful team from Constituency Number Six, aiming to break the jinx this year and take the trophy away from Constituency Number Seven.
4: Champions Lodge are confident that they will retain the championship title this year.
