Rugby League Jamaica ended it vast offering of domestic activities for teams with the staging of the inaugural RLJ/Spanish Town Old Boys Christmas 9s at the Mona Bowl on Saturday, December 23. A record thirteen teams competed in Men’s, Women’s and U19 boy’s categories.
Bulls Men
Bulls Take Men's Bracket
In the men’s category, Washington Blvd. Bulls defeated perennial rivals Duhaney Park Redsharks 20-12 courtesy of tries from Delano Jarrett, Kahil Greens, Racheed Pencle, Mohenjo Thompson, Chevaughn and Kenneth Walker. For the Redsharks, tries were scored by Akel Johnson, Jenson Morris and Kevin Thomas.
Group A Full Results: Redsharks 8 def Spanish Town 4, Hyenas 16 def. Tcats 4, Red Sharks 16 def Tcats 4, Spanish Town 12 def Hyenas 8, Spanish Town 12 def. Tcats 0 and Redsharks 16 def. Hyenas 4
Group B Full Results: JDF 20 def. Sledgehammers 12, Bulls 24 def. Sledgehammers 0, Bulls 8 draw JDF 8. (All teams were awarded points against Portmore who were no shows.)
Trophy (3rd): - JDF 16 def. Spanish Town 4
Shield (5th): Hyenas 26 def. Sledgehammers 12
Bowl (7th): Thundercats
JDF Secures Women’s Title
JDF
Jamaica Defence Force, in their first ever outing in the sport, claimed the women’s title with an 8-0 win over St. Elizabeth Sledgehammers in the finals. Four teams competed and in the round robin segment JDF got the points over Bulls who arrived late to the venue and pipped Sledgehammers 4-0. Sledgehammers defeated Redsharks 12-8 and the Bulls 8-0 respectively. Redsharks got by JDF 16-8, and the Bulls upset Redsharks 12-8.
Thundercats Take Academy U19 Title
Thundercats in Blue
In Boys U19 action, St. Catherine Thundercats got the better of the Bulls 8-0 in the finals. They were the only two teams to compete as both Cyclones and Knights were no shows.
The teams played a preliminary match with Tcats winning 12-8.
Reflecting on the tournament and 2023, RLJ Director of Rugby Romeo Monteith said, “2023 has been a very productive year for rugby league. We have had one of our most active domestic years on record including three international test matches on home soil.
The Christmas 9s was our biggest one day tournament to date with 13 individual teams showing up.
To think, there were 2 community Clubs who did not participate and originally, and we had a bracket for Universities and Colleges which we cancelled last minute (there are 4 Colleges and Universities with rugby league teams).
Kudos to the match officials and tournament organisers who were exceptional. Special acknowledgement to Tournament Directors Candice Salmon, Andrew Dixon, and Tyrone Allen. Of course, a massive thanks to the Spanish Town Old Boys who funded most of the day’s activities. We look forward to a bigger and better tournament in 2024."
Domestic games now go on pause until February 2024 when High school U14 and U16 competitions begin, alongside the Intercollegiate Championship which will be played as a 9s format.
By:Romeo Monteith
Photos: Adolph Gayle and Club Contributors.
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