By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
LENNOX WHITTINGHAM scored on the stroke of full-time on Tuesday as Altobar of St. James completed a comeback to beat Mt. Salem 3-2 at Jarrett Park as the Fred Smith Western Confederation League kicked off with a doubleheader.
In the other game, two other St. James teams, Granville and Tomorrow's People, played to a 0-0 draw.
Eshane Wilkins had given Mt. Salem the lead in the 45th minute but Orville Campbell in the 50th and Kemar Bucknor in the 67th saw Altobar charge ahead.
Anthony Mowatt scored in the 80th minute to bring Mt. Salem back on level terms but Whittingham got the winner with time running out.
Twelve teams are taking part in the competition that will be played on a home-and-away basis in the first round and will help decide the qualifiers for next year's Wray and Nephew National Premier League.
The top four teams will advance to the semi-finals with the winners taking part in a play-off with the winners of the other confed leagues with the top two replacing the two teams that will be relegated from the NPL at the end of the season.
Wadadah, who were relegated from the NPL last season, lead five teams from St. James in the competition. These teams include Granville, Mt. Salem, Altobar and Tomorrow's People.
The other teams are Harmony, Studs and Flames of Trelawny; Petersfield and Russia from Westmoreland and Bamboo and Orange Hill of Hanover.
The competition will continue tomorrow with four more games including Wadadah making their debut against Orange Hill at the UDC field in Montego Bay.
