LITTLE LONDON, Westmoreland — Roaring River FC were crowned Westmoreland Football Association Charley’s JB Rum/Dujons Construction/Captain’s Bakery and Grill Major League champions after managing to hold off Delveland FC 3-2 in the final at Bay Road Sports Complex on Thursday.

Roaring River, who were beaten in last season’s aborted final by Three Miles River, raced to a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes, but Delveland FC clawed their way back with goals late in each half to set up a tense finish in front of a good crowd.

Two errors in a five-minute span gifted Roaring River a 2-0 lead, which they were able to build on despite being outplayed in the second half by Delveland FC.

Jason McIntosh, Joyo Vassell, and Dale Burte scored for Roaring River, while Allan Black and Romaine Wilson scored for Delveland FC.

Luke Vassell, the Roaring River coach, was happy for his team’s success, saying they got what they worked for but said they did not do as well in the second half.

“It was a pretty good game… we prepared fully and we worked really hard all season, and we are seeing the results today,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“The second half wasn’t so good for us; the intensity got to us and we got complacent, but we never dropped our heads. we believed in ourselves and got the victory,” Vassell added.

Robert Brown, who conditioned Delveland, said they did not start well and that set them back. “Our defence was not disciplined in the first half; we gave up too many balls and that cost us,” he noted.

Brown said his team made changes at half-time and that paid dividends.

“We came out better in the second half — we looked much better and played much better. we saw the faults in the midfield and the defence and we switched around some players, and it worked for us,” he said.

Two mistakes by Delveland FC goalkeeper Shemar Chambers made the difference in the 18th minute, as he tried to intercept a ball that was heading outside but lost control of it. A Roaring River player then picked up the loose ball, crossed it into the centre of the 18-yard area and while Burte completely missed the volley, the ball fell nicely for his teammate McIntosh to rifle it into the unprotected goal.

Five minutes later, another bad mix-up between Chambers and his defenders saw a header from Vassell loop into the unguarded goal as Roaring River doubled their advantage.

Oshawn Neil should have made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute after he was clear but, and with only the goalkeeper to beat, shot high over the bar.

Burte made up for his earlier miss in the 36th minute when he pounced on a loose ball just on the edge of the six-yard box and rocketed it into the top of the goal past Chambers.

Delveland FC managed to pull a goal back in the 39th minute when Black converted a penalty kick, despite Roaring River’s goalkeeper Rodney Dennis getting a hand to the ball.

The half-time adjustments and the introduction of Junior Foster for Errol McNaughton saw Delveland FC take over the game in the second half.