Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
August Town's Tafari O'Conner tussles for the ball with Naggo Head's Gabret Barrett during their Wray and Nephew National Premier League PLay-Off at the Ferdie Neita Park yesterday. August Town qualified for the Premiership after a 0-0 draw. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AUGUST TOWN qualified for the Wray and Nephew National Premier League after playing to a 0-0 draw with Naggo Head, moving to an unassailable 10 points in the play-off at Ferdie Neita Park yesterday.
With two games to get one point, August Town had to dig deep for the draw after they went down to 10 men 20 minutes into the second half when Jermaine Stewart was given a second yellow card by referee Ricardo Sailsman.
The loss for Naggo Head means that they need to beat Negril in their final game against Negril.
That eventuality came to light after Negril clipped St. Georges 1-0 to move to seven points, one ahead of Naggo Head.
Speaking to August Town coach Christopher Bender after the game, the reality of the feat and what it means for the small war-torn community was evident.
"Naturally I'm very elated. This one is for the entire August Town community. We've worked very hard to get here and that hard work has paid off," he said.
Bender though, who coached premier league team Constant Spring in the early portion of last season, has already shaken off the euphoria of making it back to the top football competition in Jamaica and is looking towards how his club can make the best of their stint.
SET GOALS
"What we do is set goals. We set a goal to win the Super League, then we set one to qualify for the Premier League. Now we'll set goals regarding our preparation for the Premier League and the management staff that we have will help us to do that," said Bender, who pointed to the need to buy other players to build on weak areas.
Losing coach Harold Thomas said that his team had fallen down even before the game's start and the players need to rebound to get to the big stage.
"We are very disappointed that we lost the game at home but we've been playing like this for awhile now, very flat. We fell down but it wasn't today. We never played with the confidence to win today. We didn't move the ball around and that's what cost us," he said.
"It all depends on the players. It is out there for them to get it," he added, alluding to the must-win situation they now face against Negril on Sunday.
