Published 6 November 2024
Buckie Got It,
St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
VILLAGE SUPERSTARS WIN TRILOGY OF SKNFA YOUTH LEAGUE TITLES
Rams Village Superstars completed their trilogy of SKNFA Youth League titles after winning the 2024 Rams Premier Youth Cup U13 title and the Keith Gumbs U17 League in October. Village’s U13 Team defeated Conaree Fireball International on penalty shootout, after taking a 3-1 lead in the first half. But Conaree Fireball, for the third consecutive time, came back from three goals down to tie the score and force the match into penalties. In the end, Village was able to close out the match from the penalty spot. After the match, President of the SKNFA Atiba Harris and Shaun Weston, General Manager of Rams Trading, the title sponsor of the tournament, presented trophies and medals to the runners up and champions.
Village’s Captain Kazai Rawlins was the MVP of the tournament. He spoke about how hard they worked in training to now finally reap the fruits of their labour. “We worked hard to come this far,” Rawlins said. His teammate Darius Rey also chimed in: “We worked very hard; we did good. We had some ups and downs but we still came back and we still came in first,” he said.
Both players were asked about how they felt when Conaree fought their way back into the match. “They had us good but we just had a little talk and we got back in the game and got the win,” Rey said.
Meanwhile, Conaree’s Coach Harrold Wharton said his players were heartbroken at the loss, but he accepted some of the blame for the result. “We fell short which is so disappointing. After we went down to the second goal, I took blame for our play. I took too long to adjust because after we adjusted, they didn’t get any attempt on goal as I could remember. So they were very determined to pull it back,” he said. “We went to penalties. Unfortunately, our top kicker didn’t score. So, yeah, we fell short again.”
He also spoke to his team’s resilience for coming back from behind to force the match into penalties. “They’re determined. That’s the most I can say. They’re very determined. I’m confident next year we are going to be in the finals again.”
