One More Win: Village pips Conaree in Game 1
Just one more win and Rams Village Superstars would be crowned the 2017-2018 Premier League Champions after they defeated SOL IAS Conaree F.C. 5-3 on penalties to take game one of the SKNFA National Bank Premier League Finals on Sunday at the Warner Park. Both sides were locked 0-0 after regulation and extra time, despite creating numerous chances especially in the second half. Both teams also came close to taking the lead but poor shooting and in some instances excellent goal keeping from either goalkeepers kept the strikers at bay.
In the penalty shootout, Village was perfect from the spot, while Conaree missed one, which proved to be crucial in denying them the victory. Below are the goal scorers:
KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK
SCORING FOR VILLAGE
Travis Somersall
Kimaree Rogers
Javin Matthew
Joseph Wilkes
Tiran Hanley
SCORING FOR CONAREE
Kadeem Lewis
Errol Oloughlin
Orlando Mitcham
Coach Jeffrey Hazel of Village said his team was not sharp after a long layoff from last week’s playoffs matches. “The break would have done some damage for us. We usually like to keep playing so that would have played a toll on us in the first half. We weren’t as sharp as we are accustomed,” Hazel said. “We are happy with the result nonetheless,” he added. He noted that the pressure is now on for them to play well in Game 2 as the Conaree players will not be up to the task and play even harder on Wednesday.
For Assistant Coach of Conaree Delwayne Delaney, his players were a bit nervous in front of goal, which is why they were unable to score. “With this kind of atmosphere and environment, you have to have much composure in front of goal. It could be very nerve racking. I think nerve got the best of us in some instances, concentration…at the end of the day when it comes to penalties, it can be anybody’s game,” Delaney said. He stressed that the plan now is to win Game 2 at all cost. “We need to capitalize on our chances in regular time. We cannot leave it up to penalties and hope. We need to finish the game in regular time,” he said.
Game 2 is this Wednesday at 7pm at the Warner Park. Should Village win, they will be crowned champions. If Conaree bounces back and take the victory, the series will be forced to the ultimate Game 3 on Saturday June 23 also at 7pm. The match will be broadcast live on www.voiceofthecaribbean.net and via the SKNFA’s website at www.sknfa.com. Live video stream can be found at www.pep-tv.com.
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