Scholars International had an epic clash with George Town Sports Club in the top flight of Cayman football.
One of the most anticipated matches of the 2011/2012 Cayman Premier League season took place last Sunday at the G. Haig Bodden Playing Field in Bodden Town. Scholars went into the match a retooled side with star additions while George Town are riding high from their Charity Shield victory.
Colin Rowe of Scholars stated that he is pleased with the attitude of the players, the training, and the result from the previous week. “The team is taking it one match at a time,” Rowe said. “We will introduce a few new players into this match and the spectators should expect a better game than the week before.”
Lee Ramoon, speaking on behalf of George Town, stated that although this was an early game, it was a very important game.
“Hopefully, the team will play according to how they have trained,” Ramoon said. “This year, we are using a different formation-a more attacking formation-that hopefully will lead to more exciting football.”
One would have expected the match to be free-flowing football, with each team employing tactics and strategy to gain the upper hand. Although the game was end-to-end action, there was no flow as passing was constantly interrupted by careless challenges by both teams that resulted in the referee having to employ the whistle on a regular basis.
The match was very physical, with no team gaining the clear advantage. By the end of the first half the referee had issued four yellow cards. The first half ended nil-all with the only thing lacking from the game was goals. To that point, the intensity and physicality of the game was worth the entrance fee alone.
The second half started much as the first half had ended until Carson Fagan slotted home a perfectly placed header off a corner kick twelve minutes into the second half to give Scholars the lead. However, 17 minutes later, Scholars would be issued a severe blow when Mark Ebanks was given a red card after only just coming on a few minutes earlier.
Scholars, now down to ten men, did not skip a beat and did not adjust their strategy. They continued to pressure the George Town defence. George Town shuffled the pack and brought on Kevin Moore who added width to the attacking play. Inventive and aggressive wing play rewarded George Town with an equalizing goal in the 80th Minute. Kevin Moore’s run and deep cross from the right was directed back into the path of Justin Pierre by Leon Whittaker. From there Pierre delivered, as most in the crowd would have predicted.
It seemed that the match was destined to end in a draw, which would have been an appropriate score, when Scholars was awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time. O’Neil Taylor of Scholars took responsibility and slotted the ball home. The game ended 2-1 in favour of Scholars, who have made an impressive start to the season.
In other Cayman Premier League matches on Sunday, Bodden Town came out on top against Cayman Athletic as the two most youthful sides in the competition battled it out at the G. Haig Bodden Playing Field. A last gasp winner from talisman Karl Solomon gave Bodden Town their first win of the season. The final score read 2-1 in favour of Bodden Town.
At the T.E. McField in George Town Roma United continued their impressive start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Future. Nicardo Beckford and super sub Ronald Emmanuel scored for Roma. Elite dusted themselves down after their opening week defeat by taking care of Tigers 3-1. The star of the game was Elite’s number 11 Dwayne Wright, last season’s top goal scorer. Wright notched up a hat trick in this game and looked a constant threat every time he got the ball.
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