Action between St. Paul's United and Rams Village Superstars.
SKNFA
The SKNFA Super Six Playoffs table is tight after this past weekend’s matches. One team is almost assured of a finals spot and four of the remaining five teams have a mathematical chance of being the next finalists.
Added to that, two of those teams, Conaree FC and Village Superstars are tied on six points with the same goal difference. The table makes each team’s final match of the round-robin phase very intriguing.
The drama all started on Friday night when Flow 4G Cayon Rockets defeated Newtown United 2-1. Devaunty Carty opened the scoring for Cayon in the 20th minute before a K’andre Wattley own goal 16 minutes later tied proceedings. Cayon’s winning goal came in the 90th minute through Kejorn Wattley.
Coach Al Edwards of Cayon, while happy with the win, rued his team’s missed chances.
“The last time we spoke, I said all we have been practicing is finishing and for the last three days that's all we have been doing; finishing, finishing, finishing," Edwards said. We were looking for a big win to boost our chances at even a third place or to squeeze in the final (two) but it didn't come tonight," he said.
Newtown Coach Anthony “Nets” Isaac felt a substitution of his goalkeeper in the latter stages of the match, with an outfield player, due to an injury to his goalkeeper and the unavailability of his starting custodian, changed the outcome of the match.
“It changed a lot for us.... we had to put in one of our better defenders in the goal just to replace the goalkeeper," lamented Isaac, who said his goalkeeper had his shoulder dislocated. His first-choice goalkeeper was unable to play due to an accident before the match.
Saturday saw one of the best matches of the playoffs so far between MFCR Old Road United Jets and SOL IAS Conaree FC.
Old Road took a very early lead in the 3rd minute through Loudajour Lewis before Conaree equalized seven minutes later through a Javern Matthew penalty. Wazim Hough gave Conaree the lead in the 26th minute before Old Road squared things up through Tiquanny Williams in the 37th minute. An Errol O’Loughlin strike two minutes before the half meant Conaree went in with a 3-2 advantage.
That lead lasted all the way to the 90th minute before Williams converted a penalty to tie the game at 3-3.
The game ended on a sour note, however, as four players were given straight red cards after the match ended prematurely due to a fight.
The red carded players were Iquon Frazer (Old Road), Tiquanny Williams (Old Road), Kadeen Lewis (Conaree) and Wazim Howe (Conaree).
Coach Al Richards of Conaree was hoping for a win but relished the point from the draw.
“I thought we should have won it…We gave up a penalty, which was a soft penalty. But nevertheless, the team held out for the draw,” Richards said.
In relation to the incident, the SKNFA issued a statement: “The SKNFA deeply regrets the unfortunate incident that occurred following an exceptionally competitive match—one of the season's finest. Such behavior has no place in the game we love and respect. Consequently, our disciplinary committee will convene to take decisive action, in line with our established bylaws.”
Action continued on Sunday when SL Horsfords St. Paul’s United and Rams Village Superstars played out a 1-1 draw.
After a goalless first half, Niquan Phipps gave St. Paul’s the lead in the 67th minute before Tahir Hanley got the equalize for Village in the 94th minute.
That match was marred by a serious injury to Diquan Johnson of St. Paul’s, who was taken by ambulance to the JNF Hospital. The incident led to a 23-minute delay. That delay affected how both teams approached the conclusion of the match, as explained by Coach Stephen Clarke of Village and Manager of St. Paul’s Derionne Edmeade. Clarke said he had to withdraw Hasani Flemming, the player who tackled Johnson when he sustained the injury.
“I had to take him out because he was very, very distraught. But besides that, we still had a game to finish,” he said. Edmeade said the injury impacted how his players finished the match. “I think that also took a toll on the mindset (of the players) as we tried to finish the game,” he said. Best wishes to Johnson as he is recovering from his injury.
All teams will have to wait a week to know their fate as we now enter an international break. The St. Kitts Senior Men’s National Team will bow into action in the Concacaf Nations League this Thursday at 7 p.m. against Guadeloupe at the SKNFA Technical Center.
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.'
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
