Rugby League Jamaica successfully concluded its ninth National Division II competition on at the UWI Mona Bowl. Once more, the eight-team competition saw cross-town rivals Duhaney Park Firestorm and Washington Boulevard Bulls battle for supremacy after previously getting past Liguanea Dragons and Mona Pelicans, respectively, in the semi-finals the week before.

The Firestorm emerged champions with a narrow 16-10 win. The final was a defensive battle throughout as both teams found it difficult to score. With a minute to go and the score locked at 10-all, it took a massive defensive stop by the Firestorm to secure victory.

Bulls was in possession and threatening to score. However, Oshane Edie was bundled into touch. At the restart, Javian Bryan broke free for the Firestorm and sprinted 80 metres to score under the posts to seal the win for the champs.

Other try scorers for the Firestorm were Akel Johnson and Akeem Murray, while Kemoy Whyte kicked two goals. For the Bulls, tries came from Racheed Pencle and Shawayne Collins, while Shamoy Stewart kicked a goal.

Commenting on the competition Director of Rugby Romeo Monteith said, “It was a great competition, one of the most competitive to date with very close scores in most of the games. The Firestorm have proven their resilience one more and congrats to them. One of the highlights for us is the high number of players aged between 18-23 that participated. This is really our target audience for this Division, and we see some fantastic athletes coming through.”

Duhaney Park Red Sharks won their seventh consecutive National Club Championship men’s (NCC) Grand Finals, and ninth overall after a hard-fought 32-20 win over Washington Boulevard Bulls at the UWI Mona Bowl on Sunday.

The champions had an early scare when play maker Chevaughn Bailey departed the game after only two minutes with an injury. However, they still managed to go into the half-time break with a narrow 10-4 lead after tries from Ryan Grant and Joseph Shae, Grant with the conversion.

Bulls’ first half points came from a try form winger Javon Lewis.

The Red Sharks surged further ahead 20-4 early in the second half with tries from Shaqueil Pollack and Adrian Thomas, Grant kicking one of the two conversion attempts.

The Bulls then narrowed the gap to 20-14 with tries from Orlando Messado and Reinhardo Richards, Mohenjo Thompson kicking one of the conversions.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Red Sharks made it a two-score game when hooker Akeem Murray burrowed over from close range, Grant again converting.

However, the Bulls again found a response, this time through Shamoy Stewart, Thompson again converting to leave the game in the balance at 26-20.

With five minutes remaining and the Bulls pushing for the equalizing score, a drop ball from Kahil Green in their own half gifted the Red Sharks possession.

 Prop Owen Linton then went on a thundering charge up the middle and scored under the sticks, Grant again slotted home the conversion to seal the 32-20 victory for the champs.

 Winning Head Coach Roy Calvert while happy for the win praised their opponents’ effort.

“Hats off to the Bulls, they were determined. The conditions were not perfect and both teams had a hard time holding on to the ball,” Calvert remarked.

“I’m proud of my team though, we have ended the season unbeaten, so it’s another historic moment for us. I was really pleased to see the growth of some of our young players and to end with a win in the Grand Finals is the perfect ending to the season.”

Oshane Edie coach of the Bulls expressed his pride at how his team performed in the losing effort.

“It was a good final. We lost momentum in the first half, got back in it the second but we failed to capitalize on our opportunities. I’m proud of the boys, it was a very intense game and congrats to the Red Sharks on their victory.”

In the third-place playoff, Western Hyenas ran out 32-12 winners over Liguanea Dragons.