BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LEAGUE leaders RAM’S Village Superstars FC opened their bid for the Premier Division title with a lackluster 2-nil victory over Harris Paint St. Peter’s FC in the opening round of the 2014 Final Four Playoffs at Warner Park on Sunday (May 18).
Playing before a near-capacity crowd, the game did not live up to its much-anticipated hype with both teams lacking penetration in the midfield positions.
With several politician in attendance, the play on the field was somewhat subdued in the first half with both teams creating numerous goal scoring opportunities but neither of them could apply the finishing touches needed to break the deadlock.
However, fourth placed St. Peter’s came close to breaking the deadlock when a powerful right-foot cross rocked the crossbar of the Village Superstars’ goal only to be cleared by the defender.
Two minutes later sloppy defending by St. Peter’s allowed for a counterattack which by Village Superstars on their goal which went awry.
With the score still at nil-all at halftime, the respective coaches gave their team a pep talk as both of them needed to chalk-up points from their all-important first outing.
On resumption of play, Village Superstars shone brighter as they outsprinted their opponents to retrieve balls and quickly reacted to passes, much to the delight of the hundreds of pro-Village supporters.
The crowd went into frenzy when the deadlock was broken deep into the second half, as a powerful cross was whipped into the 30-yard box and inadvertently found the back of St. Peter’s net in the 60th minute off defender Kareem Harris.
That sparked new life into the Village boys who created numerous counterattacks but to no avail. But some 18 minutes later, their offensive play paid dividends as St. Peter’s made yet another defensive blunder by scoring in their own goal. This time, however, it came off the boot of Kyhron Phillips, which placed the icing on the cake for Village Superstars and a dejected St. Peter’s outfit losing 2-nil.
With that victory, RAM’S Superstars FC now sits alone at the top of the four-team playoffs after S.L. Horsford St. Paul’s United Strikers and H.E. Garden Hotspurs played to a disappointing goalless draw on the previous day.
Action resumes tomorrow (May 21) at 8:00 p.m. at the same venue with S.L. Horsford St. Paul’s United Strikers doing battle with Harris Paint St. Peter’s; and on the following day, at the same time and venue, RAM’S Village Superstars will be playing against H.E. Garden Hotspurs.
