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Guyana must win as they seek Digicel Caribbean Cup title

Sep 04, 2011 Sports

Last weekend’s Hurricane Irene did not only reap havoc on the US coast line, but it also forced the cancellation of semi-finals of the 2011 Digicel (New York) Caribbean Cup football tournament, throwing the competition in a limbo.
Guyana was down to play Grenada while seven time champions and cup holders Jamaica were billed to face St Kitts and Nevis last Sunday at the Thomas Jefferson play field in Brooklyn.
Fans since mid-way through the tournament had longed to see a Guyana/Jamaica finals given the fact that for years the men from the ‘Land of Wood and Water’ has been dominating the event, for once the ‘Golden Jaguars’ emerged as the team that has captivated the spectators this year with their display of the game.
The infusion of Howard Lowe, Abassi McPherson, Konata Manning, Devon Millington, and Kevin Beaton with the US based Guyanese proved to be a force to reckon with and while the thousands of fans that are expected to cram the venue will not see their dream final (Guyana/Jamaica), the situation of the day will make things just as intriguing.
Jamaica will play St Kitts in the opener while Guyana and Grenada will battle it in the nightcap, where the winner from both games will share the first place honours.
It’s only the second time in the tournaments’ 20 year history that two teams will share a title; the first being at the inaugural event when Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica were jointly named winners.
Tournament organizers said the day promises to be a “contrast of playing philosophies”, especially since it is expected that Jamaica will walk away with the win against St Kitts; the same team Guyana swamped 6-0 in the preliminarily round of the tournament.
Guyana and Grenada played each other in the group stages of the tournament and the outcome was goalless draw.
The only thing separating the two teams is that Guyana is only team in the tournament to concede a goal and also scoring the most in the tournament (18); 5-0 against T&T, the same against Antigua and Barbuda, 6-0 against St Kitts, and edging St Lucia 3-0, while Grenada didn’t score as much and allowed one goal.
With eight goals scored so far in the tournament, Beaton will be poised to keep his goal scoring antics intact for this clash, while Millington, the tournament’s second leading scorer (6) who has resorted to the role of being a play maker can prove to be the key to Guyana’s victory.
Another player, Nigel ‘Powers’ Codrington is yet to score in the tournament, but his presence has always been felt and the Grenadian defenders are aware of his capabilities, some of which he played against numerous times in his illustrious career with the Golden Jaguars.
Defensively, Guyana is the soundest of the teams in the competition, led by Lowe, the former National Captain and McPherson; the eye catching left back from Alpha United.
Jamaican-born England and Liverpool football legend will be in attendance to witness the day’s proceedings.
This year’s finals also features the final of the Digicel Kick Start Clinics in which 150 aspiring young football players will battle it out under the tutoring of John Barnes.
The Digicel Kick Start Clinics are part of Digicel’s soccer grassroots programme where the best three players from the Clinics in New York will be chosen to travel to the elite Digicel Academy in Trinidad where they will spend a week developing their skills and technical ability as well as learning valuable life skills such as personal awareness and self-esteem – all through positive reinforcement, fostering an appreciation of football’s intrinsic values.

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