Western Bureau:
The battle for western Jamaica's coveted slot in the 2009-10 Digicel Premier League (DPL) will conclude tonight when Wadadah FC take a 2-0 lead into their Captain's Bakery Western Super League second-leg final against Frome FC, at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, starting at 7 p.m.
The game, which carries a $150,000 winner's purse, will be the feature game of a triple-header. It will be preceded by the return leg semi-finals of the St James FA JNBS/Hart Senior League, which will see Melbourne Strikers and Tomorrows People, who are locked at 1-1, meeting at 3 p.m.; and Catherine Hall, with a 1-0 advantage, meeting Granville City at 5 p.m.
With Reno and Village United both struggling to stave off relegation from the DPL, tonight's game between Wadadah and Frome takes on added significance as the winner may represent the region's last chance of playing in the nation's top league come next season.
In the first-leg final, which was played at the Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland just under two weeks ago, the Daniel Ricketts-coached Wadadah outfit created a two-goal cushion for today's game with stoppage time goals by Jeremy Bucknor and Damion Chambers. A draw, or even a one-goal loss tonight, will make them champions, but they are not counting on such a result.
"While a draw would be good enough for us, our plan is to win this game," said Wadadah's star striker, Curtis Palmer. "We did the hard work at Frome so the task today will be to finish the job."
While they are precariously placed, the youthful Frome aggregation cannot be slighted because as they showed in eliminating the much-feared Granville in their semi-final clash, with the right application they can be awesome.
Full potential
According to Frome's manager, Victor Wright, his team is a well organised and disciplined unit and once they play to their full potential, they can beat just about any team in the competition.
In their semi-final clash against Granville, Frome won 4-2 on penalties after the two legs of the tie ended 0-0. Wadadah had a similar 4-2 penalty shoot-out win against Seba United, after their two-way semi-final tie ended 2-2.
In addition to the 2009-10 DPL elimination slot and the $150,000 winners purse, the eventual champions will also take home the coveted Captain's Bakery Trophy.