BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CRITICAL victories over the weekend in the Digicel Premier League for TDC Newtown United F. C. and St. Peters F. C. have helped to further solidify their positions as major contenders for this year’s final four.
St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association Digicel Premier League action kicked off on Saturday night (Mar. 6) at Warner Park with St. Peters facing the struggling KFC Trinity/Challengers United F.C.
After some early tussles, it was St. Peters’ Kirkland Harris who finally exploited the gaps in Trinity/Challengers’ defense and scored the first goal of the game. Trinity/Challengers managed to stay within one goal for the remainder of the half, but St. Peters continued to control the pace.
Harris returned in minute 71 to further St. Peters’ lead to 2-0 and three minutes later heavy pressure in the box caused the ball to be sent off of Trinity/Challengers’ Marlo Gumbs into his own goal and gave St. Peters a 3-0 lead.
St. Peters kept the pressure up through the latter part of the second half to add goals from Kareem Harris (75th minute) and Aiden Nurse (86th minute) as they went on to win the encounter 5-0 and maintained their position as a top contender in the league.
TDC Newtown United also earned an important 2-0 victory last night (Mar. 7) at the Sandy Point New Recreation Ground over 888 Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) to stay atop of the Digicel Premier League points table.
Though Newtown was heavily favoured in the match, it was a very hotly contested game and CFBC gave little leeway to their opponents through the first half, which ended 0-0. The most heated exchanges led to Miguel Flemming (CFBC) and Sashi Isaac (Newtown) drawing yellow cards in the early going.
Eventually, the men from east Basseterre saw a breakthrough when midfielder Orlando ‘Ack’ Mitcham wormed his way through the defense and gave his team a 1-0 lead in minute 67.
CFBC failed to find an equalizer in the waning minutes of the game and their fate was sealed in the 88th minute when Zevon Archibald slotted another for Newtown and extended their lead to a game winning 2-0.
Returning Digicel Premier League champion S. L. Horsford’s St. Pauls United F.C. also played on Saturday evening against UDC Garden Hotspurs F.C., but neither side was able to gain a clear advantage and the match ended in a scoreless draw.
The Digicel Premier League will continue on Thursday evening (Mar. 11) with Coury Snapple Conaree taking on KFC Trinity/Challengers at the Newtown Playing Field beginning at 6 p.m. Following that match, St. Peters will return to action against Mantab.
