It was a scintillating moment for the communities of Maverley and Hughenden.

The Maverley/Hughenden Football Club, playing purposeful football throughout the Charley’s JB Rum/Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Super League football, rose from the ashes of the 1994 debacle to lift the title by defeating Barbican FC 1-0 in extra time at the Constant Spring Complex on Friday night.

Midfielder Morais Somers scored the pivotal goal two minutes from the end of extra time.

Maverley/Hughenden Football Club General Secretary Lloyd McLaren spoke to the victory and what it does bring to the twin community as a tonic stem: “This victory means a great deal to the communities. It was since 1994 that we were out of football at this level, during which time we went through a number unfavourable situations from what can be considered undesirable crowd behaviour.

“For that reason, we set about to infuse the tenets of reform into the interstices of the fabric of both team and community structure to embrace a more civic behaviour towards our visitors and, with tonight’s success, this victory, in no small measure, should serve to enhance our efforts and we can once again begin to enjoy our football,” McLaren said.

While Maverley/Hughenden were striving to revitalise interest in both club and community, vanquished Barbican were steeped in returning to the Red Stripe Premier League from whence they came a season ago, but neither team looked to be giving any quarters. It was a situation which produced few scoring opportunities and the game soldiered on into time added.

To add new vigour to team play, both teams introduced fresh legs in the later part of the game. Maverley/Hughenden Coach Hugh Blair introduced Roberto Fletcher and Locksley Thompson in the second half of extra time, and with a little more zip in their play, Fletcher got a clear run on the Barbican goal.

He had just entered the fray and struck his shot wide. Notwithstanding, Fletcher had shown signs of what was possible and with two minutes remaining in extra time, the tireless Somers made it possible by beating the reliable Nicholas Campbell in goal for Barbican.

It was a pity that one of these teams had to lose as neither looked vulnerable on the night. However, probably the chips fell where it will multiply as Maverley have one of the largest followings in local football and this is a lively plus for the sport of the ordinary man.

Earlier, Central Kingston FC climbed to Super League football for the first time in over 30-odd years by edging former National League campaigners Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) FC 1-0. Ronaldo Henry profited from a deflected shot from off a JDF defender in minute 53 to give Central Kingston the narrow win and seminal entry into football at this level.

Vincent Watson, coach of Central Kingston, said: “The entire Central Kingston community will be pleased with this victory, but it was not unexpected. We (the coaching staff) had mapped out how to beat the JDF. They do not have two good wingbacks, so what we needed to do was to make passes along the flanks. You noticed where the goal came from: on the left side, and to add to the success, the players played under instructions.

“Going to the Super League is a major achievement for Central Kingston. For over 30-odd years it is the first time we are going anywhere near there and we intend to take it further. I am ‘Stankovic’, I have produced many top players — names like Kemar Prince, Oneil Fisher and a host of others. Central Kingston are on the move so watch for us,” Watson added.

JDF team manager, Captain Andre Edwards, was pleased with the achievement of his team. “Despite losing in the final I am happy with the performance of the team. We have not played at the Super League level since 2010. This season we set out to expose a number of our young players and as a result we will be playing in the Super League next season. So there is no disappointment. We have achieved our objective,” Captain Edwards added.