Two winners emerged from the Cayman Islands Football Association President’s Cup finals hosted at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex on 18 Feb.
Sunset Football Club secured the women’s trophy in the double-header, while Elite Sports Club prevailed in the men’s final.
Women’s President’s Cup
In the women’s championship match, Sunset FC defeated Fusion Sports Club 3-1.
Jada Dixon-Lam opened the scoring for Sunset in the 21st minute, providing her side with a narrow lead heading into the break.
Fusion responded shortly after the interval, with Donai Williams leveling the score in the 47th minute.
However, Sunset regained control shortly after, as Clara De Quintal scored in the 51st minute to restore the lead. Dixon-Lam added her second goal of the night in the 72nd minute to seal the victory.
Sunset acting captain Cayden Coles noted that the win was particularly significant given the integration of younger players into the squad to fill vacancies.
“This victory reflects how far we have come as a team, as so many younger players had to step up and fill the spots of the older players who were off island. I am really proud of how we’ve come together and fought so hard, particularly when Fusion scored early in the second half and we raised our game and didn’t lose focus,” Coles said.
Coles believes her team did a “good job of taking advantage of the big moments during the game”, especially with their second goal, which she said, “kept us going”.
“I also think that for a team that was newly assembled, we came together quickly and played really hard for each other. I am so proud of what this young team achieved and am very honored to have captained such a great team of players; furthermore, I am grateful for the amazing leadership from the other senior players and our coaches,” Coles added.
Frederick Köhler-Krüner, Sunset’s assistant coach, praised the team’s mental resilience, specifically their ability to score a second goal immediately after conceding the equaliser.
“I think the girls can be extremely proud of their efforts in the cup final. We could tell they were nervous, but they settled into the game brilliantly and scored the all-important first goal,” Köhler-Krüner said.
“It was a real test of their character to concede so quickly after half time, but we had spent the week leading up to the final talking about how much mentality and your reaction to setbacks matters in finals, so to respond by scoring to go ahead again so quickly is a testament to all the hard work they put in at their young age,” he added.
Men’s President’s Cup
The men’s final followed, featuring a competitive match between Academy Sports Club and Elite Sports Club that required extra time to determine a winner.
After Dominic Owens gave Academy a 24th-minute lead, Elite found an equalizer in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half through Shakur Silburn.
The match remained deadlocked through the second half, despite Elite being reduced to 10 men.
The decisive moment came in the 102nd minute, during the first half of extra time, when Ashton Belcarris scored to give Elite the 2-1 lead that they maintained until the final whistle.
Elite SC captain, Wesley ‘Marceló’ Robinson, said, “The victory means a lot to me and my team. We’ve been working hard all season and put in work to get this far, and it was another hurdle we had to get over to win, and we did it together with unity as a team.”
Robinson added, “My team kept level-headed and fought for each other every second of the game. Even when we went down to 10 men, we didn’t panic, we adjusted accordingly and went on to get the win to finish the game out together as a team.”
Dion Brandon, Elite’s head coach, described the match as “the game of the season so far” and one that he believes “people got what they paid to see”.
“It was very competitive [and] both teams showed up to play … were hungry for the victory and wanted to walk away with the trophy at the end of the night. Players on both teams left all they had on the pitch … It just shows the hard work, determination and tenacity that the players displayed,” Brandon said.
He added, “I’m very thankful that it came out in in our favour. I think our boys just dug a little bit deeper, especially going down a player and having to finish the game off with only 10. We had some key players step up for us and I couldn’t ask for any more from my players.”
An “ecstatic” Brandon described his players as “very receptive of instructions given from the sideline”.
“It just shows that they’re a team of quality and character, that they are the team to beat this season and that they deserve to compete in the upcoming Caribbean Football Union competition [this August]. I’m very thankful for the result and for Academy’s performance. They were very worthy opponents,” Brandon said.
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