MONTEGO BAY, St James – AFTER consecutive losses in finals over the last two seasons, Norwood Strikers finally prevailed as champions, when they beat favourites Little Miami 4-2 in extra time in Sunday’s return-leg final of the St James Football Association’s Senior League at Jarrett Park for a 5-2 aggregate.

The win has earned the team a place in next season’s Western Confederation Super League. After winning the first leg 1-0 last week Monday, Norwood fell behind and had to claw their way back into the game, forcing extra time in which they scored three times, as Little Miami fell at the last hurdle for a second straight year.

Wayne Campbell, coach of the Norwood team, told the Observer West that the winning team was better than the last two that lost in the Division Two and Division One finals in the previous two seasons.

“This team is better than those teams that lost those finals,” he said, “this team has determination, this team has guts.”

His role in the finals, he noted, was “just to keep them motivated, kept them focused on what they had to do.”

It was a cruel blow to Little Miami who was narrowly beaten in last season’s final. They had started the season as favourites and won the mid-season title over Montego Bay Boys Club.

Earlier, Androycle Poyser scored for Little Miami in the 20th minute to level the aggregate scores, but the consistent Hernando Hayles hand back Norwood the lead with a 74th minute goal.

Jermaine Bowen a second-half substitute, however, scored in the 78th minute to force extra time with the scores locked at 2-2.

Little Miami had no answer for Norwood in the extra-time period, as Cornwall College schoolboy Alex Smith scored a goal in each half of extra time, while Keno Jones scored the other.

Norwood was the more aggressive in the extra time and after two close chances by Micardo Cardoza and Howard Beecher, Smith gave Norwood the lead in the 103rd minute, when he was allowed too much room just outside the 18-yard box and punished Little Miami by powering the ball past goalkeeper Chase Smith.

Jones increased the lead in the 110th minute when he headed home a square from the right-hand side and Smith wrapped up the scoring in the 115th minute when he caught the Little Miami defence on the counter and raced away from them to beat Smith with a shot into the far right hand corner.