Adrian Frater, News Editor

Seba United's captain, Keniel Moodie (second left), accepts the Dennis Barton Trophy from Georgette Powell, the daughter of Barton, after their 2-1 win over Reno at Jarrett Park on Sunday night. - photo by Adrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:

SEBA UNITED became the first winners of the Dennis Barton Trophy on Sunday night when they registered an exciting come-from-behind 2-1 win over Reno in their exhibition game at Jarrett Park.

The game, which was staged to honour Barton who founded Seba United in the 1960s and served an extended tenure as their president, was also used to test the state of readiness of the two teams ahead of Sunday's start of the 2007-08 Cash Plus-sponsored Premier League competition.

Reno, who played well in patches, took the lead through Nyron Davis. However, Seba United stormed back to secure victory through goals from Wilfred Smith (penalty) and Delroy, Ellis.

"Mr. Barton was a Seba man so he would not feel good in his grave if the trophy went down to Westmoreland the first time it was played for," said Seba United's player/coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore. "It was a good result in terms of our preparation going into the NPL competition."

In what was a keenly contested game, Seba United had the better of the early exchanges and, after missing early chances in the seventh and ninth minutes through Ricardo Geddes and Smith, took the lead in the 23rd minute. A 25-yard free kick was rolled into the path of Davis who fired home powerfully. The second half saw Reno working over time to extend their lead, especially through the speedy Ricardo Scott. However, they had serious difficulty piercing the tight Seba United defence for a second time.

Seba finally got a decent break in the 79th minute when the wily Smith was pulled down deep inside the penalty area and the referee ruled penalty. Smith made no mistake from the spot, making the score 1-1 and setting the stage for a gripping last 20 minutes.

With Reno all out in attack and battling desperately to get back in front, they were caught on the counter-attack in the 83rd and conceded a second goal. Ellis ran on to a neat pass from Smith and slotted wide of the advancing goalkeeper, making the score 2-1.

The final minutes of the game were fast and exciting with both teams trading solid attacks.

However, no further goals were scored, which was enough to give the Seba team the trophy.