SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Appleton Estate moved closer to a place in the South Central Confederation Super League play-offs following a 3-0 victory over Black Star in their Charley’s JB Rum/St Elizabeth Major League first-leg final on Sunday.

Playing at home, it took Appleton just seven minutes to nose ahead, thanks to Tajae Coley’s strike.

They increased their lead 10 minutes into the second half through Nicoy Smith, before Edroy Barrett struck a third in the 70th minute to add stability to the scoreline going into the return leg.

That game is scheduled for Saturday at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) field in Santa Cruz, with the winner on aggregate set to advance to the four-team Confederation play-offs.

Holland PYC, in the meantime, rallied for a 3-1 victory over Tafari Lions in the curtain-raiser to claim third-place honours.

Romario Brown shot Tafari Lions into a 12th-minute lead, before STETHS’ player Donjay Smith restored parity for Holland on minute 25.

Smith’s schoolmate Shawn Genus sealed the win in the 65th, six minutes after Gavin Morris had given them a 2-1 lead.

— Oshane Tobias