IRWIN, St James — A member of the organising committee of the inaugural Orville Sandcroft Unity Cup pre-season schoolboy football competition says they could spread the event over two days next year after Sunday’s successful staging at the Irwin High School in St James.

Glenmuir High came from behind to beat Calabar High 3-1 in a competitive final that capped the first rural pre-season tournament.

Shamari Cousins scored a double and Kamari Wray scored the other to lead Glenmuir to the win. Duvaughn Martin had given Calabar the lead.

Sanjay Sterling, assistant coach of Irwin High and member of the organising committee, said the competition “ticked a lot of boxes” for the eight participants.

He said the tournament gave the coaches a first look at the talent they have, as preparations continue for the start of the competition in early September.

“In terms of youth development, the turnouts from all the teams that are here, as you can see, most of them are youthful, so teams basically got a chance to work on what they plan to utilise going forward in the season,” Sterling told the Jamaica Observer. “Whether they continue with the teams they have, or [it is a] case that they need to make some changes, and this is definitely one of the first major preseason tournaments for the preseason so coaches will have an idea which players they can depend on moving forward.”

He said they had more teams showing interest than they were able to accommodate for the one day and he saw an opportunity for expansion. “We were oversubscribed. It’s something that a lot of teams would really want to be a part of. So going forward, we can probably can look at maybe adding the next day to the competition, stretching it over the two days, and probably including more teams.”

The eight teams were separated into two groups of four, playing each other in 30-minute games with the top two qualifying for the final. The runners-up battled in the consolation clash.

Frome Technical edged Green Pond High 1-0 in the third-place play-off, thanks to a penalty conversion by Wayne Mullings, who was the top scorer with three goals.

— Paul A Reid