Third time’s the charm for Flanker United FC

For Flanker United FC, it was a case of third time's the charm. Twice denied in the finals, Flanker crowned themselves champions of the St James/Sandals Resorts International Major League when they clipped two-time champions Reggae Youths 1-0 in the final at Montego Bay Sports Complex.

Head coach of Flanker United FC, Omar Christie, said it was a well-deserved win, as it was their third consecutive time in the finals.

"We have been trying to get past this hurdle and we put in all the extra jump to get over it," Christie told STAR Sports.

"I have to lift my hat off to the guys. They stood and fought where there were some aches and pains, they picked up during the game," he added.

In Flanker's previous trips to the final, they lost to last year's champions Granville United and, two years ago, they were beaten by Reggae Youths.

This time, it was clear they had greater determination and, in semi-finals, they beat Lilliput Rover over two legs.

And then, in the final, a nail-biting game, Flanker United FC managed to squeeze out the winning goal in the 44th minute, courtesy Kenou Gram, with an assist from Theo Shaw.

FAIRLY EVEN

The first half was fairly even as both teams fought to keep the game alive for the fans who came out in their numbers.

In the second half, Reggae Youths really turned up the tempo while applying pressure on Flanker FC's defensive unit.

Reggae Youths made multiple shot attempts and broke down Flanker FC defence a few times, but were not able to get on the scoresheet. Flanker FC's goalkeeper Roger Moore was put to the task of having to make multiple saves to keep a clean sheet.

In the long run, this worked in his team's favour as they held out until Gram's ultimate decider.

The champions earned $350,000, while second got $250,000, third-place Lilliput Rovers netted $160,000 and fourth-place Green Pond SC gained $120,000.

Flanker United's Garnett Gladstone was voted the Most Valuable Player.

Christie reasoned that, with his first win as coach for Flanker FC, he is elated to have the silverware and happy to see football uniting the community.

"A volatile area like Flanker, if you look around Jamaica, everything they try to unite the people is through football. We are trying to bring Flanker to a new height, a new community where people can feel free to come and enjoy a football game through unity, through football."

Continuing, he said, "We are developing, getting sponsors, and we are trying to rebuild the community back to normal."

ADDED VALUE

Formerly known as Fogo, Christie said the name change to Flanker United FC is added value to the team.

"It's beautiful. United stands for all. Football brings anybody together.

Meanwhile, Reggae Youths assistant coach Andre Moore said the team didn't live up to expectations.

"It was not what we expected. Unfortunately, we didn't stick to our game plan. As such, the cookie crumbles and, if you don't stick to the game plan, that is what will happen. Hats off to Flanker FC for sticking to their game plan," Moore stated.

Asked about the second-half performance, Moore said a few changes were made to cause problems.

"For the second half, we made some adjustments. We made some attacking changes, we made some substitutions and implemented some attacking players. However, we were just not able to get that end result that we were looking for, to actually turn the game around," said Moore.

ashley.anguin@gleanerjm.com