SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine — Spanish Town Police, on Friday, served justice to the overall points standing of the LIME/St Catherine Division One competition, beating GC Foster FC to win the mid-season trophy and the early psychological advantage in the title race.

Before this game, played against the respective leaders of Zones A and B at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, Police were sitting atop the overall points standing on 19 points, having dropped points only once this season in a drawn game.

Those stats are superior to GC Foster’s.

The sports college lead Zone B on 13 points, but are fourth on the overall table – winning four, drawing two and losing one of their seven games played thus far.

But, as so often the case in these one off, cup games, the numbers rarely matter. The more purposeful team on the day usually come out on top.

For long spells on Friday, that team appeared to have been GC Foster. They took control of the game from the off. In fact, the college team were mellowing in possession, creating chance after chance and should have been at least three goals up, instead of one, at half time.

They again failed to add to Demar Howard’s scrambled 36th-minute effort, despite continuing to dominate proceedings and would pay dearly when Chevaughn Welch emerged as the game’s outstanding performer in a matter of 22 second-half minutes.

First, the gangly, but skillful, number 10 player capitalised on an error from the GC goalkeeper – who had handled the ball outside his area – to slam home a low, right-foot free kick on 59 minutes. And, as the game looked to be meandering towards extra-time, the same player popped up, unmarked, inside the box to strike home, left-footed, on the half volley.

The Oval erupted into wild celebration, and just like that, Spanish Town Police appeared to have been the better team. GC, for all their earlier enterprise, now looked out of sorts chasing an elusive equaliser.

“GC is a team like this,” reacted one supporter who often travels with the team, “dem have some very good players – skilful and physical – but mentally dem very weak.”

He meant one lapse from their goalkeeper, who had an otherwise outstanding game, was always likely to pull the entire team down.

Their opponents didn’t care, however. What mattered was that they did what it took to affirm their dominance at the half-way stage of this Division One competition.

“We have a number of goals for the season,” Stanley Gardner, the Spanish Town coach, said. “This is just one of them. The ultimate is to win the Division One.”

If they weren’t the favourites before, after this game they are certainly the team to beat.