BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - “The gloves are off” was the proclamation of St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) General Secretary Stanley Jacobs yesterday (May 10) while speaking about the upcoming Digicel Premier League Final Four playoffs.
Set to kick off this Saturday (May 15) at the Warner Park Football Stadium, this year’s Final Four is believed to be anybody’s game with a wide array of talent coming from reigning champion S. L. Horsford’s St. Pauls United, TDC Newtown United, St. Peters and Coury Gatorade Conaree football clubs.
For St. Pauls, this year’s championship is a chance to show that talent still runs deep in the rural community. SKNVibes spoke to team manager Dwyer Edmead, who said that his team’s performance in the regular season speaks for itself.
“This season we had the most goals scored and the most points ever by the club, so I think it shows we have maintained our level from last season.”
Unlike last season, St. Pauls did suffer a loss at the hands of Conaree early in the year, a point which some commentators believe showed a weakness in the side. Edmead, however, discredited these claims and said the team is as strong as ever.
“We had to deal with a lot of injuries at one point and we were unable to field a lot of the same 11. I don’t know if the members of the public knew it, but there was a period where we had a number of draws and even suffered a loss, but we have recovered now and have a full strength team,” he stated.
Training for the defending champs has been intense in the lead up to the Final Four and the manager noted that they will not be taking any of their matches lightly.
“During the Final Four it is almost like a level playing field. Each team has an equal chance of winning, so it comes down to which team wants it the most. I think at this point our team really wants it again.”
One team that could potentially stand in St. Pauls’ way is regular season points table leader Newtown. As one of the most winning teams in the history of the Premier League Final Four, the accomplished squad from east Basseterre has a great deal to prove after finishing third in 2009.
“I have no problem with [St. Pauls] going to three [total championships], but it will not be this year. Newtown is preparing to regain what slipped out of our hands last season. It slipped out of our hands and we deeply regret it…so we are training very hard,” Newtown’s Derrick Fyfield told the nation in a press conference held yesterday.
Newtown features two of the league’s top scorers in Ian ‘Rumpy’ Lake and Orlando Mitchum, who tied as league leaders with 15 goals. With such an offensive powerhouse at their disposal and a stronger midfield than in 2009, Fyfield said there is no question Newtown will be lifting the cup when the dust settles.
“As I normally say, there is no place in war for second place. The war begins on May 15th and there is only one place that Newtown United is going to be: number one at the top.
“I will not even say let the best team win. Newtown will be winning this championship,” he stated.
While they are considered the underdogs by many, St. Peters F.C. Manager Julian Morton said that his men are ready to begin a new and stronger era for the club as they enter their third ever Final Four playoff.
“Training has been very intense,” Morton stated. “We are training daily and we are well on our way to the Final Four.”
During regular season play, St. Peters was able to obtain draws against both Newtown and Conaree and Morton said that the side will be looking for striker Aiden Nurse, who also had 15 goals during regular season play, to continue his offensive leadership. He also claimed that St. Peters would be unveiling a secret weapon once the round robin begins.
“We haven’t had much striking power in the past, but we have remedied that for the Final Four. We have a new striker coming in that no one has ever seen before, so they can’t mark him and that is going to be one of our strengths for these games,” Morton stated.
The final element of the Final Four equation is first-timer Conaree. The club has seen continued improvement in the past three seasons and is seen by many as the biggest wildcard for the playoffs.
Carrying the distinction of being the only team to defeat St. Pauls in the past two seasons, Conaree Manager David Hobson said that the public should not be fooled by the side’s 9-5 regular season record.
“We feel we are the underdogs, but we beat St. Pauls earlier in the regular season. We had draws with Newtown and St. Peters so our confidence is high.”
Hobson noted that recent changes in the Conaree management has allowed the players to advance their standard this season and gives them a very good chance of winning the cup.
“One thing is the addition of our new head coach George Gilbert. He is an old-time footballer. He has a different strategy from all of the other teams in the Park. He showed [the players] video from old games and really worked on a different strategy.
“We also brought in [top national sprinter] Delwayne Delaney this year. He’s the physical trainer and he’s done a good job with the guys in getting them physically prepared,” Hobson said.
The action begins on Saturday with St. Pauls facing St. Peters in game one and Newtown taking on Conaree in game two of the round robin series. Out of that series, the top two teams will then play a best of three series beginning in late May for the championship.
With no clearly dominate team emerging from the regular season, the question of who will be titled the 2010 Digicel SKNFA Premier League Champion remains wide open and members of the SKNFA executive have promised one of the best season finishers ever.
