Veterans win Challenge
St Lucia’s Veterans brought the curtain down on the 2015 Guinness Street Football Challenge in fine style when they whipped Barbados 4-1 to be crowned regional champions at the Waterfront in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday.
St Lucia started well against Barbados and was rewarded with the opening goal in the second minute when captain Romiel Felix slotted home between two defenders. Despite no other goals coming in the half, they simply outplayed their opponents by being quicker to the ball as well as more organised defensively, forcing the Bajans to take shooting opportunities from long range.
The floodgates opened in the second half as Keiron King made it 2-0 within a minute of the resumption (11th) and four minutes later it was 3-0 when defender Valdez Maximim scored what was probably the goal of the tournament. Having possession of the ball within his goal area, he looked up and observed that Barbados was pressing the play in St Lucia’s half of the field so he played a deft, long chip forward that sailed over the heads of the opposition and settled at the back of their net. Felix made it 4-0 in the 16th minute when he emphatically slotted home his second goal of the match following a neat build-up going forward.
Barbados were so starved of possession that they rarely had many goal scoring opportunities but did manage a consolation item when Jamal Chandler converted a penalty in the penultimate minute (19th) of the match. They, however, would be satisfied with copping the runner-up position on their debut year in the tournament.
Speaking with the Express during the prize giving ceremony, Felix said: “To be honest we really did not expect to win the tournament but we came here to put up a good fight and in the end that’s what we did.”
He said that when the team finished at the bottom of the their group the focus was about working hard, keeping together, fighting and taking advantage of any goal scoring opportunities they created.
“It feels great to be representing St Lucia and we are more than happy to be the champions.” Felix added that Veterans always play competitions on a regular basis so it would be nothing new for them going forward.
In the playoff for third, the tournament’s second debutant, Aruba, took third via a 2-1 win over 2012 champions St Vincent. Valdo Leocadio gave them the lead in the third minute but Reginald Payne levelled the match for the Vincentians in the eight minute. However, Aruba’s Cristiano Ronaldo look-alike Claudeone Cavalcante sealed the victory with a well-taken item from wide on the left flank to finish a dream run by another underdog.
In quarterfinal action contested earlier, St Vincent beat St Kitts 1-0 via a Durwin Ross goal in the 13th minute; Barbados defeated Trinidad and Tobago 4-3 on kicks from the penalty spot after their contest ended 1-1; Aruba prevailed 3-2 on penalties against Guyana following a goalless draw; and St Lucia shocked Jamaica 3-1 with goals from Jonathan Alfred (3rd) and Felix (5th and 10th).
And in the semi-finals, Felix (8th) and Claude James (15th) gave St Lucia a 2-0 win over St Vincent while the Barbados and Aruba served up another exciting contest following their nine-goal thriller in the group stage where Aruba prevailed 5-4. This time around it was Barbados who emerged victorious by an 8-7 margin in a sudden death penalty shootout after extra time failed to break the 1-1 deadlock.
St Lucia collected US$6,000 for their championship win while Barbados took home US$4,000 for the runner-up prize. Aruba pocketed US$2,500 for third and St Vincent earned US$1,000 for their fourth place finish.
Felix claimed the Golden Boot award for his five goals, all scored on the final day of competition, and picked up a cheque for US$500.