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Winner may take all in top two clash

Golden boot: Coke will try to lift his side to the First Division title tomorrow. (Photo by Akil Simmons)

The top two goal scorers in the First Division will go head-to-head tomorrow when Boulevard and Devonshire Colts meet at Police Field in a top-of-the-table clash that could decide who wins the league.

Ian Coke, of Boulevard, leads the scoring charts with 19 goals while Colts’ Lozendro Symonds has 15, followed in third place by Tiae-Vince Douglas of Boulevard on 14. Kyle Jones of Colts has 12 goals but he will miss the match through suspension.

The two clubs, who both call Police Field home, have been setting the pace at the top of the division all season, and they would already be promoted if it had not been for BAA’s 11-game winning streak.

Now everything has come down to the final two weeks of the season, with Boulevard needing a win to secure both the title and promotion, while Colts will reclaim top spot and possibly promotion, depending on BAA’s outcome against fourth-place Somerset Eagles.

Boulevard lead the standings with 39 points, Colts have 37 and BAA 34 with two games remaining. A year after missing out on promotion when they drew with St George’s in their last match, Colts, like Boulevard, have their fate in their own hands.

“It’s close, a win would definitely be the best result, a draw or loss wouldn’t kill us but we’re not going for anything other than a win,” Jay Bean, the Devonshire Colts coach, said.

“We’re one of the clubs who, if you look at the transfer period, didn’t pick up anyone and kept the nucleus of our team. We lost a few guys who were on the fringes but that just helped the younger players to get more exposure.

“Whereas some of the Premier Division teams are exposing some of their kids this year, our kids have been exposed for the last three years while we were in the First Division rebuilding. In both divisions Devonshire Colts have the meanest defence so we just have to win the league on defence. Every team goes through a situation where winning ugly is the order of the day.”

Colts were relegated at the end of the 2010-11 season while Boulevard dropped out of the top flight the following season. Now both are coming back with a vengeance, with Colts hoping to cap their season by adding promotion to the Shield title they won on New Year’s Day.

“It’s definitely in our hands, we fell short just after we won the cup,” said Bean. “After we won the cup we took our foot off the gas pedal.

“We were still getting positive results while not playing too well and then the BAA game was a definite wake-up call for us. The players are training better and are on the right track.

“A win would definitely be a positive result for us, but anything less gives BAA an outside chance. It’s still in our hands no matter what. Unlike the last two years when we were hoping for results to go our way, now we just to look after ourselves.”

BAA won’t have an easy match at White Hill Field when coach Kenny Thompson goes up against his former club. Eagles were eliminated from the promotion race when they lost at home to Wolves two weeks ago, but now they could play the role of spoilers. BAA also need to win their last match against Young Men’s Social Club, while Colts close out their season at home to St David’s and Boulevard play Eagles.

“BAA have some talented players, no doubt about it, youth and enthusiasm and one thing they have more than other teams is the facilities to train whenever they want so they are well equipped to be successful,” Bean acknowledged. “And Kenny is a tremendous coach, no doubt about that.”

In the other matches tomorrow Ireland Rangers meet Wolves at Malabar Field while Social take on X-Roads at Bernard Park and St David’s host Paget.