Boys’ Town president believed in revival

IT HAS been a story of two halves this season for Boys’ Town FC.

The club was dead-last by match week six in the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Championship, yet they are one of the teams in the final after defeating this season’s favourites, Olympic Gardens.

Boys’ Town came into the semi-finals as the lowest-ranked team, finishing fourth in the KSAFA Championship regular season.

Paired against top seed Olympic Gardens FC, who had only been defeated once this season, Boys’ Town turned out 4-2 penalty winners.

Andrew Price, president of Boys’ Town FC, said despite Olympic Gardens’ impressive record in the regular season, he was confident his team could pull off an upset.

“We finished fourth, and we were the last semi-finalists, and we played Olympic Gardens, who only lost one game for the entire season,” he said. “But I told the team it is important to win the games that matter, and the semi-final was an important game. Even though there are teams who finished above us in the league, it is all about getting the job done in the semi-finals, and now we’re in the final.”

High confidence

Price entered the season high on confidence following their title triumph last season.

But that confidence took a massive blow as Boys’ Town went six straight without a win.

Rooted at the foot of the table, a title defence looked unlikely.

Still, Price insists he still had hope the squad could turn their fortunes around.

By match week nine, Boys’ Town had moved up to sixth in the standings, and by the end of the regular season, they had edged Barbican FC for the final spot in the semi-finals.

“It was a very competitive season. We got off to a very slow start, but I believed that we had the quality players as defending champions that we could repeat and get back to the final,” said Price.

“They have been improving with each week, and we hope to culminate the entire season by defending our title.

“We were at the root of the table for a few weeks, but then our season progressed, and we started to put in some consistency. We’re, basically, where we were last season, and now it’s time to finish on a strong note,” he added.

Price said that while the main focus is on their KSAFA title, the team will also be looking to earn qualification to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Tier Two competition for a chance at promotion to the Jamaica Premier League (JPL).

However, he said that type of ambition requires major sponsorship.