MAY PEN, Clarendon — Sporting Central Academy and Humble Lion will go in search of the tie-breaking jab in tonight’s final of the Claro/Clarendon Knockout football competition at the Effortville Community Centre, starting at 6:00 pm.

Both teams, meeting in the championship decider for the fourth consecutive time since 2007, are tied on four titles each and should be firing on all cylinders as the victors will become the competition’s most successful team.

And despite neither team being able to produce a winner in their last four meetings, defending champions Sporting Central will start with the psychological edge.

The Premier League teams are currently enjoying their best season in the nation’s top league since gaining promotion four years ago and should be high on confidence knowing that they’ve only lost twice in their last 10 games.

They are sixth in the overall standings on 31 points and second in the second-round (18), needing a win in their last game of the round against title holders Harbour View to secure their first berth in an end-of-roundfinal.

Incidentally, Sporting were the last team to produce a winner in

this top Clarendon match-up, triumphing 1-0 in last year’s KO decider, and the thrill of becoming the parish’s top club after only nine years of existence, plus the financial boost of copping the $75,000 winners’ purse should be enough motivation for them.

But Humble Lion, who appear to be finally finding form under coach Lenworth Hyde Snr, can in no way be taken lightly.

The Lion won their last three Premier League games to claw themselves out of the relegation zone by a point and are now on a four-game winning streak in

all competitions.

More importantly, they have not conceded a goal since their 0-1 defeat to Waterhouse two weeks ago, and according to assistant coach Max Straw, “we do believe that we are now seeing the fruits of our labour”.

And after dropping several senior players in favour of new talent, it will be interesting to see how the cubs of Effortville fear against the fleet-footed youngsters of Clarendon Park.

On their way to the final, Sporting eased by neighbours Ebony Stars 6-0 in quarter-final action, but were made to work overtime for a narrow 1-0 win against Super League contenders Monymusk in the semi-final.

Humble Lion, on their trek, overcame pesky Major League outfit Spartan Athletic 3-1 in the quarters, before dispatching York Town 2-0 in the semis.