There were wins for Flow 4G Cayon Rockets, MFCR Old Road United Jets and S.L. Horsfords St. Paul’s United, as round two action continued Saturday and Sunday in the 2023 SKNFA Premier League.
Firstly, on Saturday, Flow 4G Cayon Rockets secured a 4-0 win over Security Forces.
Goals from Devontay Carty in the 27th minute and Carlos Bertie in the 30th and 33rd gave the Rockets a 3-0 lead at halftime before a Shaqkeem Butler 63rd minute strike completed the scoring.
In the other Saturday game, MCFR United Old Road Jets overcame a 0-1 halftime deficit to beat Newtown United 2-1.
Shaheem Prentice gave Newtown the lead in first half stoppage time before a double from Tiquanny Williams in the 51st and 55th minutes gave the Jets the win.
On Sunday, Fast Cash Saddlers and Sol Island Conaree played out a 1-1 draw.
After a scoreless first half, Tijani Fahie opened the scoring for Conaree in the 62nd minute before Navaldo Champagne equalized for Saddlers 12 minutes later.
Saddlers coach, Samuel Phipps, was pleased with his team’s performance, despite giving up a soft goal early in the second half.
“Unfortunately, we went behind again with what I think was a soft goal, but nevertheless, traits of a good team, we always come back and try to level the score so I am pleased with the guys and their performance,” Phipps said.
Coach Al Richards of Conaree was disappointed as he felt his team should have won the match.
“I am very disappointed today in giving up these points today. I think it was a game for us to win. We didn’t defend well the set piece from Saddlers and gave up a goal. This was a chance to go up the table, maybe to 4th position but we slipped it up again,” Richards said.
In Sunday’s second game, SL Horsfords St. Paul United secured a 2-0 win over Jones Group Sandy Point.
A 54th minute penalty from Keithroy Freeman and a goal from Diandre Challenger in the 78th minute secured the win after a scoreless opening half.
Manager of St. Paul’s, Austin Lewis, was not impressed with the performance of his team.
“The performance was not the best. I was not impressed with the performance today. I think we dropped our standard,” Lewis said.
Sandy Point player, Shaquan Pemberton, said the team played well but made a couple of mistakes, which cost them the match.
“I feel like the team played well today. Just a couple mistakes we made. Next time, we must come out and do what we do again,” Pemberton said.
On Friday, St. Peters FC scored a 2-1 win over Hobson Enterprises Garden Hotspurs.
St. Peters took the lead in the 30th minute through Shevene Boston. 52 minutes later, Spurs thought they rescued a point when Steve Archibald got their equalizer before St. Peters snatched victory five minutes later through Tyquan Terrell.
St. Peters Coach, Austin Dico Huggins, said despite this win, they still have a long way to go.
“The second round started today for us. We had a very interesting game…we had a training session yesterday and we were able to put some of the things that we did in training in order to be successful in the game. I think the game was very competitive and we managed to win the game. We are going to keep working because we have a long way to go,” Huggins said.
Assistant Coach of Spurs, Rohan Browne, said this result is disappointing.
“We worked hard to come back in the second half to equalize the game,” he said, calling the penalty call a “contentious” one.
“It’s disappointing and we worked hard,” he added.
In the earlier match up, Rams Village Superstars won by default as their opponent Bath United did not show up for the game.
SOLIAS Conaree FC started off their 2023 SKNFA Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory over St. Peters FC at the Verchilds playing field on Saturday evening.
Byron Phillip opened the scoring in the 36th minute with Anthony Grant applying the second in the 87th minute to seal the victory. Coach Al Richards said after he was pleased with the win despite his team not performing to its best.
“Congrats to my team for winning a 2-nil victory,” he said.
“My thoughts on the game are simple; the first game of the season, we didn't really get it right, but we got the victory."
Meanwhile, Coach Austin Dico Huggins of St. Peters said his team failed to take the chances they created.
“I think we need to be more lethal in the attacking third of the field and we need to concentrate more on the job, especially on the game plan that is laid out," Huggins said.
"That's all we need to work on and get more involved mentally; because it is important that we remember everything that we need to do, in which area of the field that we need to do it and we need to play harder, more intense; a lot more running off the ball, so therefore we need to get fitter."
In the second match of the day, defending champions S.L. Horfords St. Paul’s United were held to a 0-0 draw by home side MFCR Old Road United Jets.
Both teams created few chances but failed to make them count.
In the matches played on Friday (Feb. 10), S-Krave Newtown United and Hobson Enterprises Garden Hotspurs both recorded their first wins of the new season.
Newtown brushed aside Hotsprings Bath United 5-1 with goals coming from Sylvester Caines in the 13th minute and D'Jaun Warner in the 35th minute.
Leranje Liburd added a third 56th minute and Kennedy Rodriguez made it 4-0 from the penalty spot in the 59th. Akimba Lawrence scored the fifth in the 87th minute before Phillron Lavia got a consolation from the spot 90th minute.
Anthony “Nets” Isaac, who has returned as the coach for Newtown and he was happy with Friday’s result.
On the other hand, Coach of Bath Alex Claxon, said the players are finding their groove, seeing this was the first match, but promised some adjustments for the next match.
Meanwhile, Spurs edged newly promoted Jones Group Sandy Point FC 2-1.
Steve Archibald opened the scoring in the 19th minute with Valmon Jeffers adding a second from the penalty spot in the 60th minute.
Shaquan Pemberton scored a consolation in stoppage time.
Spurs Head Coach Steven Brown said the win was a good one, considering the challenges they endured with match conditions. “We executed well enough. There were some challenges that we faced coming out here; the size of the field was a bit smaller so we couldn’t execute our game plan to the fullest, but nonetheless, the guys adjusted enough,” he said.
“We were able to capitalize on our chances and scored a few goals. We got the three points, which is what we came here for.”
The upcoming Premier League fixtures this weekend will be played in Cayon, Newtown and Warner Park.
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