'Best in the history of women's football'

• Edwards says players' dedication ensured Barbican four-peat

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Charles Edwards, coach of Jamaica Football Federa-tion (JFF)/Sherwin Williams Women's Premier League champions Barbican, has hailed his team for their outstanding performance against Portmore Strikers in the finals, saying it is one of the best in his club's history.

Barbican won their fourth consecutive hold on the island's premier women's football trophy with an easy 4-1 win over Portmore Strikers in the second leg last Saturday at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium.

The win ensured an 8-1 win on aggregate, as they had won the first-leg final by a 4-0 margin the previous weekend.

Great leadership

Barbican also took home $400,000, while Portmore Strikers collected $250,000 and the runners-up trophy.

"This is one of the most close-knit teams that I have ever coached because the leadership was very great, and that contributed significantly to our success this season," said Edwards.

"These players all are wonderful women and have skill, they work hard and they are also very dedicated to our programme, and they really follow our instructions every step of the way," he said.

"This is also a very disciplined team because when it comes to training they work very hard, and at the end of the day they've reaped success," Edwards added.

Continuing, Edwards said: "I think that this may have been one of the best performances by a Barbican team in the history of women's football."

Trudian Mills, Yolanda Hamilton, Jodi-Ann McGregor and Nickhimia James were the scorers for Barbican in their 4-1 return leg victory over Portmore Strikers.

Edwards, a former national women's coach, said he wasn't surprised by his team's margin of victory in the two-way tie.

"Our record over years against Portmore Strikers has been big and so I wasn't surprised by our margin of victory over them," said Edwards. "However, I thought that they would have given us a much tougher fight, but somehow we were able to get by them easier than we were expecting to.

"I think my team really played together as a team, and we had that solid unit as a team, and the disciplinary level was immaculate, and that contribute significantly to our two victories in the finals," Edwards reaffirmed.