BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEFENDING champions Fluffy pulled out all stops last evening (Aug. 25) in the final game of the NAGICO Insurance East Basseterre Football League to retain their title by defeating South Side in a penalty shootout.
At the sound of the referee’s whistle that signalled the start of the game, both teams took to the Newtown Playfield with a determined South Side aggressively challenging the capability of their opponents’ goalkeeper.
They wasted no time in indicating to Fluffy that they meant business and was rewarded within the first 15 minutes of the game with a double off the boot of Imron Ponteen.
Further attempts were made by South Side to increase their lead but they were all thwarted by the hard working goalkeeper. However, Fluffy, on the other hand, changed the statistics of the game shortly before the end of the first half as Alister ‘Poodle’ Warner found the back of the nets making it 2-1 in South Side’s favour.
Entering the second half with a one-goal deficit, a regrouped and seemingly energised Fluffy changed their strategy, which resulted in two goals being scored in quick succession; the first one by Kevaughn Browne and the second by Jermaine ‘Most High’ Baptiste.
At this point, the general feeling was that Fluffy would have walked away from the game as victors, but a surprise goal by Marla Martin in the dying minutes put both teams on a level playing field with each having three goals.
The match went into extra time – 15 minutes per half – but failure by either team to capitalise on scoring opportunities resulted in a penalty shootout. While South Side was only able to find the back of the nets on three of their five attempts, Fluffy tallied four and had no need for a fifth attempt.
Baptiste, in an interview with SKNVibes, said winning the game was not easy but noted that it all boiled down to the team’s resolve to dictate its destiny.
“I won’t lie, South Side is a good team and you can’t take your eyes off of them. We knew it would have been a hard game. When South Side scored the two goals on us, we knew we really had to work hard because this was the last game. Then we got the first goal in the first half, but during the half time break the coach told us to go out there and make our own destiny. We had to decide whether we wanted to be second or first. So we went out and chose our destiny, which is first place.”
Team Fluffy – along with a year’s worth of bragging rights - won EC$1 000 courtesy NAGICO Insurance and the championship trophy, while South Side pocketed EC$500 which was donated by East Basseterre resident and Director of Youth, Geoffrey Hanley.
Individual awards were presented to Jimmy ‘Spanish’ Skanton (Best Goalkeeper), Jason ‘Lemo’ Isaac (Best Defender), Imron Ponteen (Best Striker - Most Goals), Akimba Francis (Most Improved Player) and Young Waszim Howe and Warner (Most Valuable Players).
In an interview with SKNVibes, organiser of the league, Don ‘Dango’ Farrell, hailed it a success and expressed thanks to all who played a part in it being so. First and foremost, he explained, to God Almighty.
