Couples Tower Isle scored a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 win over Gran Bahia Principe in front of a packed Drax Hall playfield to retain the Sandals Resorts International St Ann/ St Mary Business House Football Competition on Sunday.

The champions, who had been steamrolling their opponents leading up to the final notching some 36 goals, were put under severe pressure from a confident Gran Bahia team, who shoved them out of their comfort zone and took the fight to them.

The match, watched by what is thought to be the biggest crowd in the 18-year history of the competition, started in dramatic fashion with the highly-touted Couples Tower Isle on the back foot, as the Grand Bahia team came out with a plan to shut down the attacking duo of Mauricio Gordon and Gregory Tate.

The usually slick passing Couples team could not find the room to implement their style and resorted to individual play.

Gran Bahia shocked the crowd with a well-taken first-half goal. After a neat set of passes, Everton Marsh rifled into the back of the net, sending his supporters into wild celebration.

Stunned by the goals, Couples tried desperately to hit back, but found the tough-tackling Gran Bahia aggregation too tough to brfeak down.

The second half, however, was a different story as Gran Bahia changed their tactics, deciding to defend their lead, and in the process, lost their grip. A buoyant Couples team took the fight to them and were lucky when a long range shot by Alaine Campbell took a wicked deflection and ended up into the back of the net for the equaliser.

The goal seemed to have knocked the fight out of the Gran Bahia team and added confidence to a now rampant Couples squad.

Just when the game seemed destined for extra time, Couples found the winner via Kemar Miller, after a superb four-man combination.

Winning coach Carlington Dodd was full of praise for his team.

“We played like champions and got the deserved victory. Even when we were a goal down, we were always confident that we would win. Hats off to Gran Bahia, though, as they played a very good game,” Dodd noted.

The champions received the Sandals trophy from regional public relations manager Ian Spencer and president of the St Ann Business House Football Association Danny Beckford.

Spencer, speaking after the final, congratulated the winning team, but was also full of praise for the losers.

“It was a very exciting game and one of the best business house finals I have seen,” Spencer noted.

He also saluted the efficient running of the competition.

“The standard was very high, apart from a few areas, and I was extremely pleased with the result on a whole. This year we actually increased the sponsorship amount and I am happy with what has transpired,” he said.