Photo by Adrian Frater
Gregory Gardener (right), in action during a recent Captain's Bakery Western Super League game against Salt Spring, is one of the players expected to sparkle in today's End-of-Round finals between Granville and mid-season champions Negril at the Rusea's High School grounds in Hanover.
Adrian Frater, News Editor
Western Bureau
Mid-season champions Negril FC will be going after their second title of the 2005-06 Captain's Bakery Western Super League football season this afternoon when they battle Granville FC in the competition's second End-of-Round final at the Rusea's High School grounds, in Hanover, starting at 3:00 p.m.
"We are even more ready than we were for the mid-season final," said Junior Francis, coach of Negril FC which is arguably the competition's most consistent team. "The mood in the camp is quite good and the players are just bracing to go out and get the job done."
However, the Granville team, which struggled throughout most of the first round but has been showing good form in recent games, are also ready and rearing to go and according to coach Tracy Reid, confidence and composure has returned to the team.
"The team has finally settled down and is now playing up to expectations," said a confident Reid. "I believe if we reproduce the form we have been showing in our recent games we should be able to get the better of this Negril team in this final."
Based on the results in their last outings, one can understand the confidence coming from both teams. Some pundits believe that Negril and Granville are the competition's two best teams and as a consequence, an epic showdown is expected.
In their last game Negril, runaway leaders in Zone B with 17 points, registered an emphatic 4-1 win playing away to Invaders FC. Granville were equally destructive in their rescheduled top of the table Zone A clash against the beaten mid-season finalist Sandy Bay, thrashing them 3-1.
Absent star midfielder
While Negril will be without star midfielder Derval Frazie, who has a broken ankle, coach Francis still believes his team has enough talent to go out and get the job done. In fact, he thinks the trio of Howard Phillips, Oniel Campbell and Dwight Gordon could make it a nightmarish afternoon for Granville.
However, with a fit and committed group of players at her disposal coach Reid, the wife of former national goalkeeper Loxley Reid, believes a unified Granville team will be too good for Negril. According to her, with veteran players Landel Fisher and Rodney Hines to spearhead their attack, Negril should be in for a stern examination.
