Barbican aim to ram home advantage

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

DESPITE holding a hefty advantage, Barbican are aiming to kill off any show of resistance from Portmore United with early goals, when they clash in the second-leg final of the Jamaica Football Federation/Sherwin Williams Women's Premier League.

The defending champions, led by a hat-trick from former national striker Jodian McGregor thrashed Portmore Strikers 4-0 in their first-leg final match at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium on Saturday, to firmly place one hand on the trophy.

"We need to safeguard against complacency, and our intention is to get two goals as early as possible, so as to put the game out of their reach," warned Barbican's coach, Charles Edwards.

He added: "They have a good team and they do have the potential to come at us, and so we just have to ensure that we put this game away very early."

McGregor scored her goals in the 47th, 49th and 90th minutes for Barbican, who are seeking their fourth consecutive hold on the trophy. Janine Dennis scored the opening goal for Barbican in the 14th minute.

Edwards said their execution in the first-leg match was spot on and this allowed them to take control from the start.

"We executed our game plan very well and my players played according to instructions," said Edwards. "We took the game to Portmore early, as we didn't allow them to settle and to get into their rhythm."

Portmore Strikers will be hard-pressed to overcome Barbican's advantage, especially as they will be without the services of their captain and national player, Rochelle Bryan, along with experienced defender Latoya Barrett. Both players, were red carded in the opening game.

Derrick Johnson, coach of Portmore Strikers, said it is going to be a very difficult task for his team.

"I doubt that we can get back in this final because being four-nil down and losing our captain and a defender, it is going to be a very huge task for us," said Johnson.

"However, we are going to try, but it is really an uphill task," he said. "Our players will have to work overtime and also to ensure that we don't concede any early goals to Barbican."