Four-in-a-row for awesome Barbican
Barbican confirmed what was expected of them on Saturday, when they beat Portmore Strikers 4-1 in the second-leg of the Sherwin Williams Women’s League final for their fourth consecutive title, claiming glory with an 8-1 aggregate scoreline at the Waterhouse mini-stadium.
The champions held a comfortable 4-0 lead coming into the tie, and goals from Trudi-Ann Mills, Yolanda Hamilton, Jody-Ann McGregor and Nickhima James saw the Charles Edwards-coached team to another comfortable win.
Edwards said that although Portmore made life difficult in the first half-an-hour, they eventually got the go-ahead goal and took the game away from their opponents.
“And it really showed that we were on top of Portmore in a lot of ways,” he said.
Both teams struggled to break down each other in the opening minutes, with the best chance falling to Portmore’s Chervia Blair, who skied her effort from 18 yards.
However, Barbican left-back Hamilton dominated her side of the pitch and constantly invaded Portmore’s penalty area with her piercing runs.
The champions eventually made the break-through when captain Alicia James released the energetic Mills, who raced away from her markers before rounding Peatria Campbell to score in an empty goal.
Three minutes after the break, Hamilton put the game beyond doubt when she latched onto a ball on top of the area and drilled a low shot past Campbell.
First-leg hat-trick hero McGregor then added a third in the 69th minute when she turned her marker inside the area before firing home from 12 yards.
Iesha Mowatt, however, netted a consolation for the St Catherine side when she curled in a free-kick from a very tight angle in the 72nd minute.
Venecia Reid spurned a great chance to get another goal for Portmore minutes later when goalkeeper Khalie Beckford spilled another Mowatt free-kick.
Portmore’s coach Derrick Johnson said the players gave their all, but it was a long way back from four goals down.
“The girls turned up and played their hearts out… but because they were four goals down it was reall y hard,” he said.
Meanwhile, managing director for Sherwin Williams Ian Forbes, expressed satisfaction in the growth and development of the league, but admitted more needs to be done.
“We are very pleased and proud to be title sponsors… ten years ago when we came on board the standard was mediocre but now it has improved tremendously,” he said.