NORMAN Manley defeated St Hugh’s 25-12 to take the lead in Group One of the 2013 ISSA/Digicel Urban Area High Schoolgirls Junior League at the Leila Robinson Courts yesterday.

Rain caused a halt to the matches and had to be shifted to four other venues as a result of a slippery playing surface, which presented a high risk of injury to players.

The Norman Manley aggregation was winning their second game of the second round. They were beaten 32-15 by defending champions The Queen’s in the preliminary round in Zone D.

Now they are looking pretty dangerous and will next play Alpha next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Gaynstead High’s unbeaten run ended when they were beaten 22-14 by Camperdown High in their Junior League encounter.

Both teams were locked 4-4 at the first quarter break before Camperdown, coached by Wayne Stewart, took a slim 7-6 lead at half-time. The East Kingston-based aggregation took control and ended the third quarter 16-11, then outscored their opponents in the final quarter 6-4 to come out victorious 22-14.

Assistant coach of Gaynstead Derrick Brown, who is acting for head coach Dalton Hinds who is away on umpiring duties at the Fast 5 World Series in New Zealand, said it was a bad day for the players.

“We lost the game in the third quarter and fourth quarter as the attacking players and shooters missed easy shots. However, we still have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, providing we win our remaining three matches to even be the runners-up,” Brown said.

In other Junior League matches, defending Junior League champions Queen’s defeated St Jago High 37-14; St Catherine High got the better of Bridgeport High 20-19 and Hydel High clipped Bridgeport High 20-19.

Former many-time Senior League champions St Hugh’s defeated Alpha Academy 31-8 for their second win.

Matches in the Junior and Senior Leagues which were postponed are scheduled to be played on Monday.