TWO BRILLIANT penalty saves from goalkeeper Alexi Julien ensured Ronnie’s Electrical Limited Strange Village Sports Club retained their precious Barrackpore Football League title when the annual tourney climaxed at the community’s Recreation Ground in late December.
Against Diamond Rangers in the final, the Strange Village unit was held to a 0-0 result after 90 minutes of play. However, they went on to prevail 5-3 via kicks from the penalty spot with Julien stealing the spotlight with two critical saves. Having retained their crown, the St Mary’s-based outfit became the league’s first ever team to successfully defend their trophy.
Spectators were treated to some excellent team play, and an array of individual skills, but the evening went to both goalkeepers. The fast-paced encounter, set on excellent playing conditions, saw both custodians play instrumental roles in keeping the scorecard goalless.
For their golden effort, Ronnie’s Electrical Strange Village Sports club walked away with the $8,000 pot, winner’s trophy, the challenge trophy and medals. Runners-up Diamond Rangers still pocketed $6,000, the second placed trophy and silver medals.
Earlier in the evening, JD’s Connection grabbed third place with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Manahambre Football Club. They earned themselves $4,000 while Manahambre Football Club collected $2,000.Delivering a short address at the final was chairman of the Barrackpore Football League, Josh Dhanesar.
He revealed that the league is not just about taking football to communities and providing playing opportunities, but more importantly, the unmeasurable positive social impact.
He thanked managers and coaches and urged them to continue with what they are doing and always strive for improvement, even though he understood that operating football teams and carrying out community work can be very challenging.
Other recipients of prizes included the 2014 Knockout winners Diamond Rangers who defeated JD’s connection 4-1 and collected $2,500 and a trophy while JD’s connection collected $1,000. This year the competition saw many excellent football matches with 278 goals being scored in the league competition and 68 in the knockout competition.
The organisers had a difficult task in choosing the three Footballers of the Year but in the end, Nathaniel Garcia of JD’s Connection, Jamal Clarence of Diamond Rangers and Andy London of Ronnie’s Electrical Limited Strange Village Sports Club strolled away with the awards.