ST Bess Football Club were crowned parish champions for St Elizabeth on Sunday, after defeating Young Blood 1-0 in a nail-biting final in the Guinness Street Football Challenge at the Santa Cruz Transportation Centre in the parish.

The goal came courtesy of a scorcher from Golden Boot winner Shevon Samuels, which sealed the victory for his team and brought his tally to five goals.

“I’m really excited about the competition, for the opportunity to showcase my skills and the chance to compete against local and regional players,” Samuels said.

The champions also pocketed $200,000 in prize money and bragging rights after a gruelling match-up of 28 teams in the newly expanded format, which saw teams advancing from group to knockout stages and finals.

The competition, which is being staged in Jamaica for the first time, moves on to Portland on April 19 with prior eliminations in Spanish Town, St Catherine and Llandilo in Westmoreland. Jamaica will also host the Caribbean finals later this year on June 28-29. Trinidad and Tobago are the defending champions.

St Bess FC as well as Young Blood and the other semi-finalists, Holt United and Maggoty Strikers, will advance to the national finals on June 14 and are now one step closer to being Caribbean champions, joining eight teams from St Catherine and Westmoreland in the play-offs.

“Despite the inclement weather, the community and the teams turned out for arguably the most exciting parish play-off so far. We feel the momentum and the excitement building, and in true Guinness style, champions St Bess FC defied the odds and showed they were made of more by beating the favourites Golf View FC in the preliminaries. For us that is what it’s all about; more passion, more skill, more determination, more heart. The champions had it all today and they deserved the win,” said a beaming Andrew Anguin, assistant brand manager, Guinness.