BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE four teams scheduled to do battle in the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) 2013 Digicel Premier Division Playoffs - Conaree FC, S.L. Hosford’s St. Paul’s, HE Garden Hotspurs and Rams Village Superstars - are expressing no fear in their pursuit for success.
Speaking a press conference on Wednesday (Aug. 8) ahead of the first night of matches, all the teams were asked what they see as their greatest threat for the Playoffs.
In response, the representative for Conaree FC, George Nolan, made reference to a statement superimposed on his shirt, which read “Respect all and fear none”.
“Our logo says it all...‘Respect all and fear none’, and that is what we are taking into the Playoffs. We, in truth and in fact, respect HE Garden Hotspurs, S.L. Hosford’s St. Paul’s and Rams Village Superstars and honestly fear none, and at the end of the day we are going to take it home.”
He continued: “Regular season Spurs had the better of me. St. Paul’s, we have a boast on them because we would have been the only team that would have beaten St. Paul’s twice for the year and, Rams, we took a beating from them in the first round and doubled it and gave them back in the second round. And we normally beat Village when it matters.”
Spurs’ representative Ras Dabo Penny stated that his team’s only threat are themselves, while noting that with self-belief they could overcome the opposition.
“For me at Garden Hotspurs, our greatest threat is Garden Hotspurs, because we believe in the philosophy if you don’t have confidence in yourself it is twice you are beaten. So if the players have confidence in themselves and go out and execute, we have no doubt we can see all of the giants fall to our feet.
“Therefore, we don’t see any threat to us winning this cup this year. The greatest threat will be lack of self-belief.”
St. Paul’s Coach Austin ‘Dico’ Huggins shared the same sentiments as Penney but added that the games are played on the field.
“Like always said, the game is not one played in the conference room and on a paper; it is played at the Stadium. I would like to support Dabo in saying the greatest threat is the team themselves, because if you don’t go out on the field and execute you going to find yourself in difficulties.
“We respect all teams and it is going to be fierce, and may the best team wins.”
Zicoma Condor representing Rams Village Superstars was a bit more reserved in his response and declared that his team would let the ball do the talking.
“My father always tells me, ‘Make sure your words short and sweet just in case you got to eat them back.’ So, with that being said, we are going to let the ball do the talking.
“I don’t think this is a time for fear! You have to respect your opponents because they are equally talented and they want the same thing.”
The Final Four Playoffs will begin today (Aug. 8) with Hobson Enterprise Garden Hotspurs being pitted against S.L. Hosford’s St. Paul’s and Rams Village Superstars will take on Conaree FC.
The best-of-three Finals are set for August 17, 21 and 24.
