National Bank Premier League Results

The stingy defense of Winners Circle Newtown United was breached as Rams Village Superstars ran riot in the National Bank Premier League Sunday night. The battle of Basseterre: East vs West, Newtown vs Village, ended in a lopsided affair. Village trumped Newtown 3-0, leapfrogging both Newtown and S.L. Horsfords St. Pauls to the top of the table on 14 points. Travis Somersall put Village ahead in the 26^th minute after Newtown goalkeeper Akil Byron spilled a shot at the mouth of the goal.

With a dangerously close to the ground diving header Somersall was able to roll the ball over the line. Village went into halftime with that lead, but Newtown came out roaring in the second half as the intensity increased, with five yellow cards dished out in the half between the two teams, six in total for the match. But despite Newtown’s best efforts, Village was too much for them. Village earned a penalty and Kimaree Rogers coolly found the back of the net in the 71^st minute.

In the 85^th minute, Joseph Wilkes sealed the deal with a breakaway goal to make it 3-0. Newtown Coach Anthony “Nets” Isaac at the end of the match, was still trying to figure out what led to his team’s collapse in defense, having only conceded two goals prior to that encounter. “I am trying to figure it out myself because the defense we have we know we can maintain a lot of teams coming towards us,” Isaac said. “We gave away the ball too much so it puts a lot of pressure on the defense,” the coach added. He said he is urging his team not to be despondent as they have two more matches to go to book their spot in the Carnival Cup.

It was a simple strategy for Village, according to Coach Jeffrey Hazel. “We know Newtown is a team that is very, very strong defensively…we had to break their defensive block so we had to practice some stuff. We were able to open them a little bit and look for some penetrative passes,” Coach Hazel said. “Our guys are a little bit quicker than their guys who play in the back,” he added.  With Village now at the top of the table and the first round almost done, Coach Hazel is pleased with his team’s output so far in the season.

In the first of Sunday’s double header, Elco Ltd. St. Peters earned their first win of the season against Premier League debutants T.G.E. Dieppe Bay Eagles 3-2. Kishorn Warde of Dieppe Bay gave his team the lead in the 37^th minute, only for Yuson Slader to equalize two minutes later for St. Peters. That seemed to be the impetus needed for St. Peters as Dionis Stevens extended the lead just before halftime in the 42^nd minute. Dieppe still shell shocked from what happened in the first half, scored and own goal at the start of the second half in the 47^th minute and could only muster up a second goal in the 82^nd minute. Too little too late for Dieppe Bay but they remain in 8^th position. St. Peters, with the win move one place away from the bottom of the table with 4 points.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, it was a 1-1 stalemate in one of the biggest clashes of the first round of the Premier League. S.L. Horsfords St. Pauls remain unbeaten in the league so far, after they came from behind to draw with Sol Island Auto Supplies. Errol O’loughlin had given Conaree the lead in the first half, but Julian Benjamin leveled the score in the dying moments of the game when it seemed Conaree were headed to a second successive win. Coach Austin Huggins of St. Pauls said his team adapted an aggressive strategy in the second half, considering they were a goal down at halftime. He noted that his remaining games for the first round, would be a bit easier for his team.

Obviously, Coach Lester Morris of Conaree was not pleased his team dropped two valuable points Saturday night. Concerning his team’s performance in the first round thus far, Coach Morris believes Conaree could do better.

In the night’s other match Hobson Enterprise Garden Hotspurs continue their winning ways with an emphatic 4-0 win over St. Thomas Trinity United. Steve Archibald got on to the score sheet early in the match in the 4^th minute, Kennedy Isles extended the lead in the 17^th minute, Rovan Wigley added a third goal in the 67^th minute and Steve Archibald rounded off the scoring in stoppage time. In the second match of the triple header, defending champions Flow 4G Cayon Rockets dismissed Fast Cash Saddlers United 4-0. Carlos Bertie netted a hat trick in the 4^th, 16^th and 25^th minute and Alex Charles scored in the 55^th minute. The win was a welcome result for Cayon having lost 4-2 to SOL IAS Conaree last week.

The National Bank Premier League continues with the following matches: