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Spanish Town Police FC target improvements for JPL - St Catherine outfit scores historic achievement with Tier II semi-final win over Falmouth FC
May 13, 2025
Following their historic achievement, Spanish Town Police FC are looking at improvements to facilitate their promotion to the Jamaica Premier League football competition.
Spanish Town Police FC cemented their place in history on Saturday at Spanish Town Prison Oval, after beating Falmouth United FC 5-4 on penalties in the Jamaica Football Championships (Tier II) second leg semi-final, to become the first local police football club to qualify for the nation's top flight.
Spanish Town Police defeated Falmouth 1-0 on the day, but the tie ended 1-1on aggregate due to Falmouth's similar win in the first leg.
With Jamaica Premier League (JPL) status now achieved, Howard Dyer, technical director of the club, said they will have to start getting their house in order to face the challenges of the big league.
"We cannot wait until the league's about to start. We have to be on it now. So as we speak we are on the job, and if we are falling short the high command will have to step in," he said. "But we are hoping to get the team on a level.
"We are always improving and we hope to continue that way, so we will take our time and beef up our programme," Dyer added.
"We will get there. We know we will have to get some sponsors and a little development but we will get there."
He has already set his sights two players for recruitment, one player from Mount Pleasant Football Academy and another from Portmore United.
"We know those players are comfortable, so we will have to come extra good (to get them). But I believe those two players, with what we have can do some damage," he asserted.
RED CARD
The players at their disposal were forced to do it the hard way on Saturday in the semis, because Shayiem Barracks was shown the red card after only eight minutes, which meant Police played majority of the match at a one-man disadvantage.
Chevon Walters, however, provided a ray of hope when he scored to level the tie in the 39th minute, and Dyer said it was just a matter of holding on until penalties.
"In the first few minutes of the game we got a red card and went down to 10 men. So it's 10 men that we use (to beat) them," Dyer noted. "It wasn't like after the first 20 or first 40 minutes. It was basically the first tackle of the match.
"The opposing player went too low to head the ball and my player swung his foot to kick the ball and he kicked the player in the face, and blood. And from the referee saw the blood, it was red card.
"But we got a goal and went 1-0 up. And we said it would be better for us to defend the one and go to penalty shoot-out, as we train for penalty shoot-out on a regular basis," he continued. "So we knew we had the players to do it."
SLOW START
Dyer noted that after a slow start to the season they eventually got things right and went on an eight-match winning run, which was only broken by their defeat to Falmouth FC in the first leg, noting that they had always fancied their chances of overturning the result in the return game.
He added that the entire police fraternity is in euphoria over their achievement and that the Tier II final coming up this weekend against Treasure Beach FC will be a fun affair for them.
"We are all totally elated; left, right and centre, back and front, all around celebrations were in the air straight up until 12 midnight. We all feel great, very great," he said after defeating Falmouth to gain qualification on Saturday.
"The final will be like a fun game. We will go with our best to win because we want to win. But the fun for me would be to beat my DSP that worked in Spanish Town and retired about a month ago and is now manager for Treasure Beach."
