Faulkland FC lift St James Major League title, advance toward JPL return

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Faulkland FC, who previously competed in the Jamaica Premier League, took another step toward returning to the island’s top club tier with a 2-1 win over Reggae Youths in Saturday’s St James Football Association/Sandals Resorts Major League final at Jarrett Park.

The decisive moment came deep into second-half stoppage time, when Ewan Barton scored to secure Faulkland’s second Major League championship. The result sends the club into the qualifying stage of the Jamaica Football Championship, which is scheduled to get under way this weekend.

For Reggae Youths, it was a second straight setback in the final. They had also finished runners-up at this stage last season, when Flanker FC got the better of them.

Following Faulkland’s semi-final victory over Montego Bay Boys Club earlier in the week, head coach Gregory Palmer told the Jamaica Observer that the club’s objective was to work its way back to the Jamaica Premier League.

Palmer said at the time that the immediate target was a return to the championship, which serves as the pathway into the country’s leading club competition.

“We are not looking to just win the major league — the aim must be to get back to the premier league,” Palmer had noted.

No St James club has appeared in the championship for the last four years, a gap Palmer said Faulkland wanted to close.

“We are here to fill that gap by getting a team back in the championship. If it was up to me, we would have more than one St James team playing at that level so this is our aim — not just to play in the final but to get to the [championship] and then try to make it to the premier league,” Palmer reiterated.

In the final, Faulkland went ahead in the 23rd minute through Jelani Nicholson. Reggae Youths responded before half-time, with Romaine Lewis scoring during added time to make it 1-1 at the interval.

Barton settled the contest late, heading the ball beyond goalkeeper Jkwan Kenton to give Faulkland the championship.

Montego Bay Boys Club also left Jarrett Park with a win, beating 10-man Heights FC 3-1 in the third-place play-off. Lesburn Harvey opened the scoring for Boys Club in the 21st minute, before Aleko Miller doubled the advantage in the 65th.

Heights cut the deficit in the 73rd minute when Omell Forbes found the net, but Keno Gram scored in the 90th minute to restore Boys Club’s two-goal cushion. Heights had played much of the second half with 10 players after Donovan Carey was shown a red card in the 65th minute.