Shaheem Prentice’s two goals spurred Newtown to a 2-1 win over Sadlers in the St Kitts and Nevis Premier League on Monday night.
In what was the final game of the weekend of matches, Prentice scored in the second and 22nd minutes leading his team to the victory. Jarin Clarke scored in the 55th minute in what turned out to a consolation goal for the visitors.
Coach Anthony “Nets” Isaac said his team’s victory was a sign of their resilience.
“We go from game to game. We get motivation from the game that we play because we come out on top and play very good football, so we take from that game into every game that we go into,” Isaac said.
Saddlers coach, Samuel Phipps, said he had to make changes in the first half as four of his first-team players showed up late for the match.
“I had to do some reshuffling in the first half because it’s unbelievable; we had players who were in the starting team showing up late so, of course, I had to readjust the squad from what I wanted for this game,” a flustered Phipps said.
With the victory, Newtown maintains third place on the Premier League table. Old Road United Jets are in second with 13 points while Cayon Rockets leads the league with 15 points.
On Sunday, Old Road blanked Hot Springs Bath United 3-0 at Warner Park. All three goals were scored in a four-minute span that put the game away.
Having struggled to take control in the first half, Old Road found their rhythm after the interval. Kaylon Liburd opened the scoring in the 60th minute before the prolific Tiquanny Williams scored two minutes later.
Nequan Browne secured all three points when he scored in the 64th minute as Old Road became only the second team to secure wins on the weekend.
Coach Alexis Morris of Old Road, explained why his team struggled in the first half.
“Let me tip my hat to the Bath United team because they really put us to the test,” he said. “We started a bit flat. We asked the guys to conserve some energy but to me, they went away from that and as a result of that, they were running all over the pitch.
“Luckily, at the break, we were able to talk. We were able to regroup and we were able to put things together and play the kind of (football) that we are capable of playing.”
Bath’s Coach Alex Claxton said lapses in concentration caused his team to concede three goals in four minutes. “I think this was one of those moments when our players lapsed. I think decision-making played a role in that regard so we have to go back to the drawing board and try to fix those things,” Claxton said.
In Sunday’s other match, Rams Village Superstars drew 1-1 with H.E. Garden Hotspurs.
Joseph Wilkes put Village ahead in the 44th minute but the lead lasted on four minutes as Steve Archibald drew Spurs level in the 48th.
Akio Benjamin of Spurs picked up his second yellow of the match in the 80th minute and was sent off.
Spurs Assistant Coach Rohan Browne was not happy with the draw.
“We dominated the game, to be honest. We dominated from start to end. We had most chances,” Brown said. “We had some chances on the break. I am disappointed but the guys played with heart and they finished off the game with one point. Not what we wanted but well done to the team.”
Village’s coach Stephen Clarke was also not pleased with the outcome.
“I expected three points but that’s how it goes sometimes. You just have to go back to the playing field, regroup and come back again,” Clarke said.
Meanwhile, defending champions S L Horsfords St. Paul’s, snatched a point from the jaws of defeat on Friday night on their home field.
A last-minute strike from Vinceroy Nelson that gave St Paul’s a 1-1 draw with St. Peters FC, who had taken the lead when Shomari Hanley 35th minute.
Coach Austin “Dico” Huggins of St. Peters, was upset with the outcome as he felt the seven minutes of stoppage time had already elapsed and the match should have ended, preventing St. Paul’s from scoring the last-minute goal.
In the night’s other match in St. Paul’s, Jones Group Sandy Point FC, came from behind with 10 men to draw 1-1 with Security Forces FC.
Donyelle Francis scored from the spot to give Security Forces the lead in the 26th minute before Melrick Warner pulled Sandy Point level in the 77th minute.
Table toppers FLOW 4G Cayon Rockets solidified their position at the top the league table with their fifth win from five matches on Saturday, edging SOL IAS Conaree FC 3-2 at home in St. Mary’s Park, Cayon.
Mervin Lewis put the leaders up 1-0 in the 14th minute but Errol O'Loughlin leveled the scored in the 24th minute.
Devontay Carty scored the first of his two goals to give Cayon the lead in the 29th. He added a second in the 75th to give Cayon 3-1 lead. However, Nequan Phipps made things interesting when he scored Conaree’s second in the 78th minute making for a tense final 12 minutes.
Assistant Coach at Cayon Valentine Anthony blamed lapses in concentration has been an issue of concern.
“For the past couple of games we started the first half (well) and in the second half we just come out lackadaisical. But grateful that we got the three points. Kudos to my team,” he said.
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri has suggested that Lionel Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest footballer of all time.
The 28-year-old was recently awarded the 2024 Ballon d'Or as recognition for a period in which he won the Champions League in 2023 and Euro 2024 with Spain the next year.
Ex-Barcelona man Messi has won three of the last four Ballon d'Ors prior to Rodri, with the midfielder claiming that the latter is the greatest "without any doubt" during an interview on Spanish TV.
"Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt. Cristiano has managed to match Messi without innate talent. But those of us who have played against them can see the difference," said Rodri, speaking to El Hormiguero.
"We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there. But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch."
Ronaldo has scored a total of 928 goals in his career for club and country, winning 34 major trophies including five Champions League titles. He has also won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions.
Messi, meanwhile, has scored 877 goals, won the Champions League on four occasions and the Ballon d'Or five times, most recently in 2023.
Messi is now at Inter Miami, while Rodri is recovering from an ACL injury at Manchester City, although the two faced each other in LaLiga during the midfielder's spells at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid before his Premier League move.
"When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'," he added. "When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen."
Bompastor pleased with Chelsea's rotated side in 3-0 Champions League win over Celtic
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor was delighted with her side's 3-0 home victory over Celtic in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, which extended her 100% start and secured their place in the quarter-final.
Bompastor's side remain three points above Real Madrid at the top of Group B and can now no longer be caught by third-placed Twente.
"I told the players before the game tonight that it was an opportunity for us to qualify for the quarter-final, and we did that," she told the official club website after the game.
The result comes after a 2-0 victory over Manchester City in the WSL last weekend, which also has them top of that table with seven wins from seven.
"We also remain top of the table, which is also something we want to make sure we achieve. It's great news that we were able to rotate the squad and give opportunities to some players to play a Champions League game again.
"We could rest some players thinking about the Manchester United game [on Sunday]."
One of those players who got on the pitch as a result of that rotation was 17-year-old Lola Brown, who made her professional debut after coming off the bench in the 85th minute.
"It's a special week for her individually, but also for the club," Bompastor said. "I'm really pleased for her and the opportunity for her to come in, especially in a Champions League game.
"She's been training with us and I can see her talent, even if she is young. She's really dynamic as a player, really smart, and really good with the ball. She will progress and this experience tonight will bring her a lot of joy and a lot of confidence.
'As a manager, I worked a lot with the young players, especially when I was at the academy with Lyon, and it's also something special for me when I can give an opportunity to a young player to come in and show themselves. It's really good and shows the good job that the club is doing with young players.'
Aside from Brown, Bompastor made six changes to Chelsea's starting XI for the game and was pleased with the contribution of the players who came in.
"It's been my mindset from the beginning of the season. We play so many games and have to make sure everyone is involved. It's also the opportunity for me to show my trust in the players and the squad.
"It's important because it's not possible for a player to play 90 minutes every three days, especially with a lot of international players who play for their national team and club and travel all around the world. I think that's the way it has to be.'
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