Incentive required, team failing to finish (4)
I believe the answer is:
spur
'incentive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'team failing to finish' is the wordplay.
'team' becomes 'spurs' (I've seen this before).
'failing to finish' means to remove the last letter.
'spurs' with its last letter removed is 'SPUR'.
'required' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for spur that I've seen before include "Spike on a horse-rider's boot" , "side road" , "Cowboy boot attachment" , "Goad - branch line" , "Impulse" .)