Fitzgerald delighted as Scotia 'dig deep' to win title
Published: Tuesday | September 1, 2009
Scotiabank's Richard West (No.9) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against The Gleaner Company, in the final of the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association's Business House division one league, at UWI Bowl on Saturday. Scotiabank won 1-0. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Scotiabank and Petrojam captured the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Business House division one and two titles, respectively, on Saturday at the University of the West Indies Bowl.
Scotiabank recorded a 1-0 victory over The Gleaner in the division one final, while Petrojam recorded a similar 1-0 win over Norman Manley International Airport in the division two final.
Aphas Bernard scored the lone goal in the 11th minute for Petrojam, who were securing their first division two title. Both teams will be promoted to the division one competition next season.
Delighted
Richard West scored in the 11th minute to guide Scotiabank to a 1-0 win over The Gleaner in the division one final.
Calvert Fitzgerald, coach of Scotiabank, said he was delighted with his team's victory.
"It was a very good game because these are two good sides and I am glad that we came out on top," said Fitzgerald, who is also the coach of Premier League side August Town.
Fitzgerald added that he was satisfied with his team's performance because they were one goal better than their opponents.
"We had to fight very hard to win this final because The Gleaner is a champion team and they have won this competition a number of times before and so we had to dig deep into our reserves to win the game," said Fitzgerald.
Bernard ... scored for Petrojam - File
Meanwhile Donovan Evans, coach of The Gleaner blamed his team's defeat on their poor finishing.
"It was a hard-fought game, but we got a lot of chances and we failed to put them away and we gave up a soft goal and we paid for it in the end," said Evans.
West gave Scotiabank the lead when he hit a shot from point-blank past goalkeeper Everdean Scarlett, which hit the crossbar, rebounded and deflected off a Gleaner team player before going into the goal.
Kemel Mullings got The Gleaner's best scoring opportunities. On one occasion in the first half, he beat the defenders to a low cross from the right and met the ball near the penalty spot. Unchallenged, he side-footed the ball way over the crossbar.
The second half was exciting as both teams squandered a number of clear chances.
The Gleaner, however, almost had total control in the final 20 minutes, especially with the introduction of Braxton Fraser on the left side of midfield. However, despite creating few openings, they could not find an equaliser.
Scotiabank recevied $60,000, while the runners-up collected $30,000. The division two champions took home $40,000, while the losers collected $20,000.