NATIONAL LIME Street Football Challenge champions Gulf Strikers failed in the bid to defend their title as Bath Sports Club were crowned the new parish champions of St Thomas in the lucrative LIME Street Futsal competition in Morant Bay on Saturday.

The Daniel Fulcott-coached team of Xavier Henry, Wayne Henry, Wayne Bennett, Damion James, Demetrio Billett, Anthony Francis, Maurice Moore and Oshane Spencer blanked St Thomas Merchandizers 3-0 to walk away with the top prize of $150,000 and the symbolic trophy. St Thomas Merchandizers were awarded $50,000 for their efforts.

Bath Sports Club have now moved one step closer to the national championships where they will vie for chance at winning the grand prize of $1.5 million.

The new exciting and highly competitive version of football literally made its way to the shores of Jamaica as it kicked off the first of 14 parish knockout championships at Rudolph Elder Park, which is complemented by the sparkling Caribbean sea to its south.

The Municipality of Portmore will have its own championship, make it 15 ‘parish’ tournaments in all.

The electrifying five-a-side competition saw 16 teams battling in eight matches in the first round, which yielded 45 superb goals in front of a large crowd that grew vastly as the day progressed.

Bath Sports Club opened their account with a 3-2 win over All Star Youths; Dukenfield Gunners clipped Port Morant All Stars 4-3; Nest Castle Kool Kat were beaten 2-3 by Blackout; Port Morant United scored a 5-3 win over Airy Castle; York United clobbered Street Balls 9-3 and Gulf Strikers blanked Real Morant Sports and Social Club 4-0.

The other first-round game saw St Thomas Merchandizers getting the better of Wildlife 4-3 on penalties after they played out a 2-2 draw in full and extra time, while replacement team Heartease were given a bye into the second round after Delta Force FC and Denvers Pen FC failed to show for their encounter.

The second round, which accumulated 20 goals, was highlighted by what was dubbed a mini-final between Gulf Strikers and York United, which saw Gulf Strikers coming out 5-4 victors on penalties. York United secured a 2-0 lead up to the last three minutes of the game when the defending champions came roaring back to pull level and send the game into extra-time and then penalty.

Meanwhile, Bath Sports Club landed a 6-2 whipping on Heartease; Blackout came from behind to crush Dukenfield 5-2 and St Thomas Merchandizers clipped Port Morant United 1-0.

Bath Sports Club, through a four-timer from Billett then knocked the lights out of Blackout with a 6-2 beating in the first semi-final. Billett netted twice in the 10th minute as well as in the 19th and the 20th minutes, after Bennett (5th) and Henry (9th) had earlier given them a 2-0 lead. Blackout’s consolation came in the 11th and 18th minutes through Kenroy Roberts.

The second semi-final between St Thomas Merchandizers and Gulf Strikers failed to produce as many goals, but was even more exciting. In the end it was St Thomas Merchandizers who came out 3-1 victors through a hat-trick from Gastel James (4th, 24th and 27th minutes), while Andrew Wright’s 20th-minute strike was a consolation as the champions were sent packing.

After a 40-minute entertainment break, the ultimate showdown got

underway under lights which were strategically put in place by Main Event. Both teams were evenly matched and fired numerous shots at goal which tested the mettle of the goal-keepers.

However, Bennett broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, before Henry scored a brace in the 16th and 20th minutes to send Bath Sports Club 3-0 up at the half-time break. The score would remain the same for the remainder of the game as Bath maintained the ascendancy, which crippled the chances of their opponents.

Fulcott told the Jamaica Observer that his team’s chemistry propelled them to the top.

“I feel great. The team performed very well and I am elated that we came out on top. We started off slow in the first game, but the team started to improve and it was very good,” he said.

LIME’s Vice-President of Marketing Carlo Redwood was happy with the turnout and is expecting the competition to grow even more in coming weeks.

“Huge crowd here in St Thomas, but I am not surprised… we were pretty confident coming into the parish of the defending national champions. They love their football and love LIME, so we knew that we were going to have a great turnout and we are very happy and we expect larger crowds when we visit the other parishes,” he told the Observer.

The competition’s next stop will be at the Falmouth Pier in Trelawny on Saturday before moving into St Ann on Sunday.