Five time defending champions Barbican will look to make it an unprecedented sixth straight championship win when they take on first time league finalists, GC Foster College in the finals of the Sherwin Williams Women’s Premier League starting at 7:00pm at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex today.
Five time defending champions Barbican will look to make it an unprecedented sixth straight championship win when they take on first time league finalists, GC Foster College in the finals of the Sherwin Williams Women’s Premier League starting at 7:00pm at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex today.
Barbican have not lost a game since the back end of the 2011 season and won all their games played last season. Their only blemish this season was a 0-0 draw with the UWI team, but everyone else they have faced have met the same fate.
GC Foster who have been playing in the league for just the second season, will be playing against Barbican for the second time this season and for the third time with silverware at stake.
Last year, in their debut season, GC Foster lost the Knock Out finals to Barbican by a narrow 1-0 margin, falling prey to a Jodi-Ann McGregor free kick in extra time.
This year the two met in the mid-season finals of the league where Barbican found it much easier, completing a comfortable 3-0 win, with all the goals coming in the first half.
All that is now water under the bridge and both teams will face each other determined to win and both will be highly motivated to do so.
For their part, the defending champions Barbican, who set out to have another flawless season will be determined to maintain their dominance over the entire league and claim all three titles for a second consecutive season. On the other hand, GC Foster are on a mission to show that they can be more than just ‘also-rans’.
Having lost two finals to Barbican in two years, Kurt Brooks and his charges will be looking to turn the tables on a team that has shown signs of weakness this season that was not obvious last year.
If there are genuine chinks in the Barbican armour GC Foster will be looking to find them and the semifinal display by goal keeper Abbigale Palmer shows that she may be vulnerable. The goal scored by Waterhouse captain Tasheka Small should have been a regulation catch, instead it floated over her head and into the goal leaving her coach Charles Edwards seething.
Despite that faux pas, the Barbican defense has been rock solid, led by the best defender in the league, their captain Philisha Lewis, GC Foster will have a hard time breaking them down.
Tashana Vincent has already claimed two pieces of silverware since her move to Barbican. The former Portmore Strikers player, joined the champions at the start of the season due to the non-participation of Portmore in the league and has flourished at her new club where she fit in seamlessly.
Vincent has struck up a good partnership with McGregor who is now playing with a smile on her face and a swag in her step, things that were missing from her game earlier in the season. GC Foster need to be aware of the danger those two will pose.
Another goal scoring threat lies in Shantel ‘Tanto’ Bailey who has carried over her Under-20 form into the league, scoring after just 3 minutes in the second leg finals on Wednesday night. Barbican are blessed with talent all over the park and former captain Alecia James has returned just in time to stabilize the midfield as they push for the ‘Jewel in the Crown’.
Charles Edwards is determined to finish the season with all three trophies and will have his team ready come kick off.
Fans can expect a good final and should make the trip to the ‘Jungle’ for what is expected to be a cracker of a finals.
Photo: GC Foster captain Sharika Ingram will have her work cut out for her in midfield tonight
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