First leg battle
FROME, Westmoreland — FORMER champions Reno FC and Granville United will on Sunday seek to get an advantage when they meet in the first leg of the finals of the Jamaica Football Federation Captain’s Bakery and Grill/Charley’s JB Rum Western Confederation Super League at Frome Sports Ground, set to start at 3:30pm.
After a nearly two-week break, the teams should be back in fine form in what is expected to be a ding-dong battle with not just the title and prize money at stake, but also a place in what could be the last promotion battle for the Premier League.
With the JFF announcing the start of a 10 -team Premier League comprising franchises for the 2015-16 season, this could be the final chance for teams from the various Confederations to bid for a place in the country’s top club football competition.
While Reno FC has been able to stay at or near the top of the standings all season, and are seeking to become the first team to win both the mid-season and overall titles in the same year, they are yet to beat Granville United this season.
The Westmoreland club had their unbeaten run at the start of the season snapped when they ran into a motivated Granville United in Granville and were outscored 3-2, and were later held to a 0-0 draw at home in the return round.
Despite this, however, Reno FC have the better record with 14 wins, the most of any team this season, while scoring 45 goals- second best in the regular season compared to Granville United’s 10 wins and 25 goals.
Reno FC will also have at their disposal two players who have combined for 21 goals- Denmark Gillings who is tied with two others for the lead with 11 goals and Craig Foster who has 10 goals.
Granville United, however, tied Savannah SC for the best defensive record in the league with 12 goals conceded.
Granville United will also be banking on their late season form that saw them upset Savannah SC in the semi-finals, beating the regular season champions 2-1 in their first leg semi-finals, then holding them to a draw at Frome to prevent an all Westmoreland finals, as Reno FC were steamrolling Tomorrow’s People 4-0 over both legs and beating them five times in the season.