Four teams with hopes of winning the second annual Digicel Football Tournament are contesting the semi-finals today at the Carifesta Sports Complex and the Den Amstel Centre Ground, kicking off at 15:30 hours.
At Carifesta Sports Complex, Region Seven champion Waramadong Secondary will play Region Four champion Bygeval Secondary while Region Nine champion St. Ignatius will face Wismar-Christianburg of Region Ten at the Den Amstel Centre Ground.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport via telephone, Anthony Stephens, Coach for Wismar-Christianburg, said that their goal is to win the championship.
He also said that only good things can be expected from his team. “Lots of goals scoring, good goal keeping and a total team sport,” Anthony assured.
On entering the competition, Stephens said that his plan was and still remains to return to the mining town with the championship trophy.
“But we are taking it one game at a time. Yesterday (Wednesday) we played the quarterfinal, tomorrow (today) we will be playing the semi-finals and I know we will be in the finals.”
His players, he said, are excited that they have reached this far and they are motivated to get to the finals. “They are motivated by the past players who got to the semi-finals and they are trying to better that accomplishment.”
St. Ignatius on the other hand is well prepared, according to their Coach Terrence Parks. Stabroek Sport found Parks and his players at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) dorm where the team is housed.
“I am confident that we will win and nobody is nervous, we are just resting from yesterday’s (Wednesday) game, a couple of the boys are feeling pain, but we are ready for the game and we are ready for any challenge.”
Parks said that he was not sure that his team would get this far in the competition but after their previous games the confidence of the team got a boost.
“Now we are well prepared, we came through all the stages, played at different grounds and now we have nothing to fear.”
Parks said that after yesterday’s 8-1 defeat of the Georgetown school, Lodge Secondary, he is sure that his defence is in order for today’s match against Wismar-Christianburg Secondary.
Asked about his team’s performance against Lodge Secondary, Parks said that they were not a strong opponent, but he never encouraged a feeling of over-confidence among his players. “I say they are just like the other teams we played before.”
He said that his players have nothing to fear entering today’s match as they had played against them last year in Linden but were knocked out of the competition. Parks said he was on that squad last year.
“I already know how they play their game, I already study them and we have nothing to fear and I already talked to the guys and we have nothing to fear right now.”
Asked if there were any changes to the team, Parks said he prefers to play the same team throughout the competition.
Capable
Meanwhile, Bygeval’s Coach Raymond Daw via telephone said that his team is going to play football.
“We are going out to win like any other team, I have players who are capable of bringing victory for us as our focus continues to be the main prize.”
Asked about his team’s preparation, Daw said that his team has worked hard despite some challenges. “We would have liked to do some more preparation but because of unforeseen circumstances, we have not been able to use the school ground because it is currently under water and the other grounds we are using are usually not available on a regular basis.”
Asked about his match against Leonora Secondary, Daw said that they had some good players but unfortunately the better team won.
Daw said he is proud that his team has made it to the semi-finals as they were knocked out of the competition last year in the quarterfinals by the Government Technical Institute.
“But with them out of the competition this year gives us a better chance this time around.”
He said also that he will be playing with the same squad, but acknowledged that the competition was tough on his players because of the four matches they played within the space of a week, “but it is football and there are no excuses.”
Waramadong’s Coach Tionson Kenswil in his interview with Stabroek Sport at the end of their 9-0 defeat of Region Six champions, Tutorial High, said that he was confident of his team getting to the finals and also winning the tournament.
