Published 8 March 2024
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
FOUR TEAMS REGISTER WINS IN OPENING WEEK
Four clubs in the 2024 National Bank Premier League registered wins in the opening week. Honda Newtown United got the first win of the season, edging SOL IAS Conaree FC 1-0 on Saturday March 2 at the Warner Park. Akimba Lawrence was the goal scorer in the 46th minute.
The lone goal from Newtown came from Akimba Lawrence early in the second half. “It’s the first game of the season for us. I thought the team played pretty well, based on what we were looking at for the past couple of weeks. They were able to go out there tonight and played according to the game plan,” said Newtown’s newly appointed coach Jeffrey “Pedro” Hazel.
In the first match of Saturday’s double header, Flow 4G Cayon Rockets FC drew 1-1 with Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis St. Peters FC.
GOAL SCORER for St. Peters
Julan Gordon 29th min
GOAL SCORER for Cayon
Shaheem Prentice 75th min
ELEVEN GOAL THRILLER ROCKS WARNER PARK
Meanwhile, on Sunday it was an eleven-goal thriller as MFCR Old Road United Jets flew past newly promoted Trafalgar Southstars 7-4. It was a see-saw match that saw Old Road in the ascendancy, but Southstars clawing back goals a crucial moment.
GOAL SCORERS for Old Road Jets
Nequan Browne 2 goals- 8th & 30th min
Kaylon Liburd 61st min
Bernel Hobson 73rd min
Trevor Hanley 79th min
Dequan Hamilton 86th min
Jardell Isaac 90th min
GOAL SCORERS for Trafalgar Southstars
Mhoraijhat Hajarie 45th min
Sean Percival hat trick – 72nd, 84th & 90th min
After the match, Coach Alexis Morris of Old Road, while noting the mistakes his team made, was pleased with their resilience. The club currently has some players suspended for disciplinary reasons for an incident that occurred in last year’s playoffs. “I thought that this evening, Old Road’s (plan) was to make a statement, despite all that is against us, we still decided to come out and play a very good game,” Morris said.
Manager of Trafalgar Southstars said there is work to be done, but commended his team for a valiant effort. “No excuse….no lights on our ground so we will have been practicing like an hour and so this is the first good run out we had for about a week … scoring four goals and losing; that’s hard,” lamented Phillips.
VILLAGE, ST. PAUL’S CLAIM FIRST WINS OF THE SEASON
Meanwhile, defending Champions Rams Village Superstars got their campaign off to a good start with a 2-0 victory over Hotsprings Bath United on Monday March 4 also at the Warner Park.
GOAL SCORERS for Village
Joseph Wilkes 63rd min
Kimaree Rogers 86th min
In the second match of Monday’s double header SL Horfords St. Paul’s United came from behind to defeat SKELEC Garden Hotspurs 2-1—both goals coming from St. Paul’s top striker Keithroy Freeman.
GOAL SCORER for St. Paul’s United
Keithroy Freeman 2 goals – 28th & 33rd min
GOAL SCORER for Garden Hotspurs
Steve Archibald 18th min
RED CARDS
Brendon Tuckett (Spurs) 53rd min
(Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity)
After the match, coach Thrizen Leader of St. Paul’s said this performance was much better than the President’s Cup loss on Friday. “I thought the game was much better. I think we need to finish our chances when we get them,” Leader said.
Coach St. Clair Morris of Garden Hotspurs, said they have more work to do on the training pitch. “I think we played a great game. When you look at the opponents: St. Paul’s…we basically matched them in the first half,” Morris said. Coach Morris noted that when his goalkeeper was issued a red card, this set tone for the result. “We did well for the first game. You can see lack of fitness for our team but going forward we plan to work on that portion of it.”
The National Bank Group of Companies Premier League continues on Friday at 8pm at the Warner Park.
