Deacons captured both the men’s and women’s Cooperators General Insurance Junior Knockout crowns, while their nemesis Chargers ended up on the losing end twice.
When the finals were held at the Desmond Haynes Oval on Sunday, a large crowd saw Columbus Sentry Insurance Brokers Deacons surge from two sets down to beat Jim Screechie Bar Chargers 22-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-10, 15-10.
Sandy Crest Medical Centre Deacons dethroned Chargers’ men 24-26, 25-6, 25-19, 25-19, to trigger a night of double celebrations.
Chargers seemed on course to retain their women’s crown when the experienced Sharon Bovell, in tandem with six-footer Shani Leacock, took the first two sets with Deacons struggling in defence and offence.
However, Chargers inexplicably began to make many unforced errors and sharing around the sets which allowed Deacons a reprieve.
A match-changing effort from the returning Lauren Whitehall and superb attacking from Nadia Griffith saw Deacons taking charge. Deacons forced the game into the decisive fifth set which Griffith ended with successive kills to leave Chargers bewildered and defeated.
The men’s match, with several former national and Division One players such as Damien Danzell and Michael Brathwaite, for Chargers, and Elwyn Oxley and Andy Jordan suiting up for Deacons, promised to be a thriller.
There was nothing thrilling about the below par play from Chargers.
Surviving a 0-8 deficit in the first set, Chargers edged home 26-24. However, there was no recovery from 1-8 and 3-16 gaps as Chargers were humiliated in the second set and then tried playing catch up in every set as they suffered the second loss for the night.
With the lower division leagues starting shortly, Deacons have signalled all intentions of making a clean sweep of volleyball titles for 2013. (KB)
