Hundreds turn out for Flankers Corner League final

Western Bureau:

Stakeholders in the volatile community of Flankers in Montego Bay say they were impressed with the turnout of more than 2,000 fans and just the coming together of the people for Sunday's Dr Horace Chang Flankers Football Corner League final.

Reggae Boy Ricardo Morris, a Mount Pleasant FA player in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL), scored the lone goal in the contest for Seaview to lift the title with a 1-0 win over Rebel Side.

Competition's director Junior 'Ista' Reid was happy they were able to pull off the return of the competition, that has had such an impact on the community and wider Montego Bay after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's very impressive because we know the community is coming from a far way. We love the peace and unity. We appreciate all the people that turned out and on their best behaviour," Reid said.

"It continues to have a good impact on the community to have national and former national players on show. We also have JPL players and the younger generation of footballers look up to them so it's a positive vibe for the youth in the community," he added.

Charles Sinclair, councillor for the Flankers division, said he was overwhelmed with happiness to see members of the volatile community rally together.

"There are certain things that the community of Flankers gravitates to regardless of their geographical location or political choice. One of them is sports. This competition has always pulled a large turnout at the respective games," Sinclair said.

"The good thing about this competition is that we have teams from all over Montego Bay like one of the teams in the final is from Seaview. We also invited the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force because we view them as critical stakeholders in the community," he added.

Sinclair said he has asked the Social Development Commission (SDC) for assistance in developing the facility at Flankers.

"The space needs further improvement. The lights that we use for these night competitions are temporary lights so it brings about an expense, especially for finals. We have a great sponsor in Wards Power Tools who assists us in subsidising the cost. We also need stands ... I have asked the SDC officer to assist us with the facility," Sinclair said.