
RAMS Village Superstars: Back-to-Back Carnival Cup Champions
RAMS Village Superstars is the back-to-back champion of the Carnival Cup 2017, after defeating S. L. Horsford St. Pauls United in a keenly contested final held at the Warner, on Sunday, 17th December. Village defeated St. Pauls 1-0 in a goal scored late in the first half by striker Kamari Rogers in the 45th minute of play. It was a game in which both teams played assertive football, but it was Village who managed to dominate in offensive plays, putting the St. Pauls defence under pressure. In fact, Village had several missed opportunities in runaway raids at the St. Pauls goal, but were not able to capitalise on their chances. But St. Pauls fought valiantly at every opportunity to equalise the score, executing clean passes of the ball, heading toward the Village goal, only to be intercepted by Village’s strong defence.
At the end of the match, seen by an enthusiastic and large crowd, Village Superstars coach, Leroy Liburd, said, “I think it was a really competitive game. It was worthy of a final game.” According to the coach, St. Pauls played a more physical game, “trying to get us out of it”. “We stuck to our plan and were not intimidated. We believe we are the more talented team,” Liburd commented. Talking about the finishing skills of his players and the notable missed opportunities to score, Liburd said, “Our finishing was not on par tonight, but it was good enough to get one pass their very good goal keeper, and that was the decider, but we made blunders on a few of our chances.”
The president of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association, Anthony Johnson, congratulated RAMS Village Superstars on the team’s victory. Johnson stated, “I believe it was an excellent game. Commendations to S. L. Horsford St. Pauls United, who fought very hard and contributed to an excellent game tonight.” The SKNFA president continued, “This was the climax of the first round of the National Bank SKNFA Premier League for 2017 – 2018, and, as you would have seen, it ended on a high note.”