Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Mid-season champions Salt Spring, which have been having a lean streak since the start of the second round of the Captain's Bakery Western Super League, returned to winning ways on Saturday when they clipped Holland FC 1-0 in their Zone A fixture at Tucker in Montego Bay.

In a game in which they dominated but fell prey to a spate of missed chances, the Salt Spring team got their lone goal courtesy of a first half strike by Kemar Sterling, who fired in from an acute angle to leave Holland's goalkeeper Renardo Brown looking on in amazement.

"It is nice that we got a win here today, but we can't be happy with the number of easy chances we are missing," said Omar Clarke, a senior member of the team. "If we are going to get back to the top of the standings we will need to start putting away more of our chances."

SECOND PLACE

By virtue of their win, the Salt Spring team moves up to second place in the group standings with 14 points - seven adrift runaway group leader and defending champions, Granville FC, who are already assured of a place in the competition's mid-season finals.

The remainder of the standings for Zone A, which features six teams, sees Frome third on 13 points followed by Fogo (10), Holland (6) and Sandy Bay, yet to win a game after eight outings, on a mere two points.

In Zone B, a tense battle is on to determine Granville's opponent in the mid-season final. Only three points separate the top four teams in the group, which means they are all in with a chance of making it through.

Wadadah FC, relegated from the National Premier League (NPL) last season, but are looking a way back, lead the standings with 17 points. However, community neighbours Salem are hot on their heels with 16 points, which puts them one ahead of last season's beaten finalist Negril FC (15) and two more than fourth place Montpelier (14).

Cross-zone phase

"Except for Granville FC in Zone A the going is extremely close and could get even closer when we move into the cross-zone phase," said Lilly-Mae Crawford, a member of the competition's steering committee. "The quality of the competition is very high and whoever wins should represent the west well in the NPL eliminations."

At the end of the competition's cross-zone phase, the top four teams will advance to the competition semi-final. The eventual champions will take home the Captain's Bakery Trophy, the $150,000 winners purse and earn the right to represent the Western Confederation in the Cash Plus NPL eliminations, which qualifies two teams to the premier league.