'Cobra' makes final pass

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

He gave Jamaica his all during the latter part of 1980 and well into the 1990s, while representing the nation as a top-class defender.

Today, diehard sports fans, members of the football fraternity and the Camperdown High School family will say farewell to Barrington 'Cobra' Gaynor, as he makes his final journey.

A thanksgiving service for the former national defender will be held this morning, starting at 10 o'clock, at the Pentecostal Tabernacle Church, 72 Wildman Street, central Kingston.

Interment will be at Dovecot Memorial Park, St Catherine.

After a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as the Lou Gehrig's disease, Gaynor died on March 19 at the Westchester Medical Centre in the United States. He was 45.

As one of the top defenders in the national premier and major league competitions, Gaynor will always be remembered for his never-say-die attitude, highlighted in local circles by the many on-the-field battles he had with Lenworth Hyde Sr, especially in the 1985 and 1986 Major League finals, when Harbour View and Boys' Town clashed in back-to-back championship games at the National Stadium.

gentleman

Gaynor represented Harbour View and Hyde donned the colours of Boys' Town.

"'Cobra' was really a gentleman," said Hyde. "Even on the field sometimes when I attempted to elude him and it didn't work he would come up to me and say, 'Good try, Lennie'. He would also congratulate me same place on the field when I did something good."

Gaynor was a member of the Camperdown High School team which won the Triple Crown in 1982. They won the urban-area Manning Cup and Walker Cup (KO) titles and the all-island Olivier Shield.

Gaynor's most notable accomplishments as an international was being a member of the Jamaica teams which won the Shell Caribbean Cup in 1991 and placed third at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1993.

He was a member of the Bull Bay Football Club, which is from the community where he hails and spent most of his playing and coaching days.

Locally, Gaynor also coached the senior teams at Premier League clubs Harbour View and Waterhouse, as well as his alma mater, Camperdown High.

He is survived by his wife Nyoka, daughters Shanice and Jhauneil, and other relatives and friends.