Reggae Youths, Flankers to meet in St JFA Major League final
TUCKER, St James — The first St James Football Association Sandals Resorts International Major League champion in four years will be decided on Saturday when Reggae Youths and Flankers FC meet in the final at WesPow Park set to start at 3:00 pm.
Lilliput Rovers were the last champions, crowned in June 2019, but the novel coronavirus pandemic wiped out the next two competitions, after which the parish associations were allowed to resume competitions.
There will be some added incentive for the players as new national Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson and Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts are expected to be in attendance.
Saturday’s winners will join Trelawny FA champions Harmony FC in the play-off for a place in the Jamaica Football Federation Tier II competition set to start later this year.
The game is set to be closely contested between two teams that dominated at one time or the other, and split their two games in the regular season.
Reggae Youths, who topped the points tables, had won the first-round game 3-1 before Flankers FC took the return-round game 2-0 on their way to finishing in the runners-up spot, two points adrift.
In the semi-finals, Reggae Youths rebounded from losing to Cambridge FC to win the second leg 2-0 for a 4-3 aggregate, while Flankers FC won both legs against Granville United, 4-1 overall.
Flankers FC will go into the game on the back of five straight wins, including getting points from Heights FC who had failed to field a team. They will hope that their momentum will continue.
Reggae Boys started the competition on fire and won all six first-round games but managed just three wins over the course of the second round.
They were beaten twice by Cambridge FC and once by Flankers FC.
Statistically, there is little to choose from between the teams — Reggae Youths scored 39 goals and conceded 12, while Flankers FC scored 35 and conceded 10.
Reggae Youths will hope they can get over the fluctuating form that has plagued them in the second round. They will hope that Thomas Scott, the competition’s leading scorer; Shandane Blagrove; and Denardo Kerr will be able to produce the goals.
Flankers FC have scored 21 of their 35 goals in their last five games and Danique Clarke, Tevin Fuller, and Denri Williams are the players that they are hoping to lead them in the quest for the title.
