The Gleaner, Scotia hunt KO crown

Orville Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Former champions The Gleaner and Scotiabank come face to face for the second time in recent weeks, this time in the Scotiabank Group KSAFA/ Business House KO final at the UWI Bowl today, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The match between the former league champions promises to be hard fought. When both teams met in the final round of the league at Winchester Park on August 11, Scotiabank prevented The Gleaner from advancing to the semi-finals by virtue of a 2-1 win.

The Gleaner conceded an early goal in that match (a penalty) and allowed Scotia to lead 2-0 early in the second half. They fought back strongly with ace striker Locksley Thompson scoring midway the half, and with a little luck the 'newsmen' could have beaten Scotia, who played them very hard despite not having a chance to advance.

The Gleaner missed some good scoring opportunities in the last 20 minutes and paid the price. Today, however, the team is more focused, having won two subsequent KO matches impressively, including a 10-0 win over Wray & Nephew in the quarter-final and a 3-1 win over NHT in the semi-final last Saturday at UWI.

Hat-trick

Scotiabank, meanwhile, drubbed Norman Manley International Airport 5-0 in their semi-final at UWI Bowl on Saturday, thanks to a hat-trick from forward Richard West and a goal each from Akeem Thenstead and Ajuran Brown.

Scotia will look to the above-mentioned players as well as Cavalier Super League representative Akeeli Martin, Tivoli's Damion Gordon, skipper Donovan Hibbert, who plays for August Town, goalkkeper Damion Crooks from Humble Lions, and Nicholas McCreath, to pave the way for victory.

While boasting a number of Premier League players, Scotia will find The Gleaner a tough aggregation on current form, especially with a number of players from Super League champions Cavalier in their line-up.

Thompson and the consistent Fabian Swaby, both Cavalier players, will spearhead the attack, but good support should come from midfielder Keiron Brock, Durant Foster and Braxton Fraser, along with defenders Bernard Blackwood, Dwayne Thompson and Rudolph Speid, with Cavalier's Everdeen Scarlett in goal.

Wayne Shaw, president of the Business House Football Association and manager of the Scotiabank team, said they are going all out to win this particular trophy.

"This is the only title we have not won in Business House football over the years. We were beaten in two finals in recent years and we are hoping to make it third time lucky on Thursday.

"After all, the competition is sponsored by the Scotiabank Group," he said.