Maverley/ Hughenden prevail 3-2 over Mountain View in Major League final
KINGSTON, Jamaica— The KSAFA/Campari Major League final between Maverley/Hughenden FC and Mountain View FC turned out to be an instant classic as Maverley came from behind twice to win 3-2 at the Stadium East Field on Sunday.
In a final where experience proved to be the deciding factor, two forty-something-year-old players, brought Maverley level twice, before a youngster sealed the deal in the five-goal thriller.
A close and exciting encounter was anticipated and so it proved to be between two evenly matched teams.
Mountain View started the brighter of the two and should have taken the lead long before they actually did as they missed two gilt-edged chances before they finally broke the deadlock.
Assad Pinnock twice hit the right upright, first with a header and second with a shot from what were chances easier to score than to miss.
Pinnock would have been delighted when Dwayne Trowers fired home the opener in the 32nd minute to spare his blushes.
Kevin Simpson had the first shot on target for Maverley when he stung the palms of Dwayne Colley with a fierce shot from distance moments after his team went behind.
Oneil Dunkley did well to keep his team in the contest when he saved well with his feet from a shot from Trowers as Mountain View just missed the chance to go 2-nil up.
Maverley then had a golden opportunity to equalize when Colley was forced to foul Jermaine “Tuffy” Anderson inside the box after his brother Sachin, who dwelled too long on the ball, was robbed of possession.
But Colley who was booked by referee for the foul would make up for his error, diving to his left to deny the league’s leading scorer Romario Bryan in the 39th minute as Mountain View led 1-0 at the break.
The 43-year-old Anderson took matters into his own hands and levelled for Maverley just four minutes after the restart, firing home from 10 yards with a thunderous left footed shot.
However, the very vocal Maverley fans were not celebrating for long as Jamarley Whyte fired home a beauty into the roof of the net from just outside the area to make it 2-1 to Mountain View in the 53rd minute.
With 20 minutes left to play it was another veteran who would make a mark on the final when the 42-year-old Loxsley Reid found the back of the net from eight yards out to make it 2-2.
Whyte should have put Mountain View ahead for a third time in the match, but he could only hit the post, the third time his team had done so in the game.
Maverley then went in front for the first time in the match when Nicholas Scott swept home a right-sided cross from Ranaldo Moore from 10 yards out.
Mountain View did come close to an equalizer when a shot from 12 skimmed the crossbar in the 89th minute, but in the end, it was Maverley/Hughenden who would be left celebrating at the final whistle.
Maverley head coach Richard Bryan was happy with the character shown by his team to overcome and win.
“It showed that we have true character knowing that Mountain View is a team that would come and play some football,” he said.