Adrian Frater, News Editor

Maxwell

Western Bureau:

Seba United, behind goals from Glenroy Miller and Delroy Ellis, defeated Wadadah 2-1 in their final round fixture in the pre-Wray & Nephew NPL tournament for western teams at Jarrett Park on Sunday night.

The victory not only gave Seba a share of top honours in the four-team tournament but also bragging rights in Montego Bay.

In the second game of the Jarrett Park double-header, Reno FC, with a first half strike by Martin Williams, defeated Village United. Both teams ended their three-game fixture with three points each - three points behind Wadadah and Seba, which shared first place with six points each and the identical goal difference of five goals for and two against.

Training exercise

Seba United coach Geoffrey Maxwell, who was winning his first MoBay derby, tried to play down his team's victory over their city rivals, saying the game was a little more than a training exercise for the teams, who are fine-tuning preparations for the start of the Wray & Nephew NPL Competition.

"This tournament is really to gauge the state of readiness of the teams for the NPL tournament so I would not read too much into the results," said Maxwell. "I use over 30 players in this tournament because I saw this as a way of seeing all the players in a competitive situation."

With both teams trading good early attacks in the opening minutes, Seba took the lead in the eighth minute when Wilfred Smith broke free and crossed perfectly to Miller. He controlled calmly and slipped the ball out of the reach of goalkeeper Gavin Barrett, making the half-time score 1-0.

In the 23rd minute of the second half, Seba United doubled their lead when Ellis pounced on a perfect pass from midfield and cracked a savage grounder, which struck the hands of diving goalkeeper Barrett but still crashed into the goal, making the score 2-0.

Consolation goal

With 12 minutes to go, Wadadah grabbed their consolation goal in brilliant style when they won a free-kick 35 yards from goal. The kick taken by Christopher Currie curled around the defensive wall and had goalkeeper Loxley Reid grasping at thin air as it struck the back of the net, making the final score 2-1.

"We did not want to lose but winning was not the only objective in the game as it was really an opportunity to see the players," said Anthony 'Follies' Williams, the coach of Wadadah. "It's really about getting ready for premier league."

In their game, the Reno team, which lost their previous two encounters to Wadadah and Seba United, turned in their best performance of the tournament, which made them deserving winners of the game. According to goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence, the win could not have come at a better time as he believe it will serve to boost the confidence of the team going into the NPL competition.