BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TOMORROW night (June 19) will return high stakes football to the St. Pauls Sporting Complex, as St. Thomas/Trinity Strikers take on Cayon F.C. in the deciding match of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association’s (SKNFA) Division One finals.
The winner of the three game series will advance to the SKNFA Digicel Premier League for the 2010-2011 season, and with the series drawn at one game each, the stakes could not be higher for either squad.
Strikers opened the series on Tuesday (June 15) with a dominant performance that saw them defeating Cayon 2-1 at St. Pauls. Though Cayon drew first blood early in the match, Strikers rebounded with goals from Kendal Liburd and Quincey Marshum to win the encounter.
Last night (June 18), the two squads met again, but Strikers were unable to close the book on their opponents from the east.
Within three minutes, the aggressive play of Cayon paid off with an opening goal from Ruan Morton that made the unmistakable statement that Cayon was not ready to concede defeat yet.
Both sides had missed opportunities in the remainder of the first half, but Strikers eventually pressed the advantage with superior passing that opened the chance for Marshum to net the equalizer in minute 38.
It was a back-and-forth match after the break, as each side played tenaciously in the backfield to prevent the other from gaining an advantage. With the final minutes ticking off, it appeared as though the game would be headed for extra time, but Cayon’s Kurt Morton burst through the line in minute 86 to slip a quick goal past Strikers’ goalkeeper and gain the late 2-1 lead.
Strikers did their best to move the ball quickly and equalize, but Cayon played a smart and smothering defense to hold their lead through the final whistle.
For each team, the result of tomorrow’s final match will be important to the future of the club. Strikers were relegated to Division One in 2009 and would be anxious to return to the highest tier of the local game.
Meanwhile, Cayon remains in search of its glory days that the team experienced at the turn of the century when they were Premier League champions. Since that time, the squad has floundered and struggled to claw its way out of Division One.
The SKNFA encourages fans to turn up in their numbers tomorrow night at six for the highly charged final match.
