One of the world’s best strikers in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Bulgaria’s Dimitar Berbatov, once said “Sometimes, against the underdog, you can lose because they want it more. It happens to every team”.
On Sunday night, Monedderlust Football Club headed into the final of the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Elite League Promotional Playoffs and many considered them to be the underdogs coming up against West Coast Demerara powerhouse Slingerz FC. In this instance, Monedderlust clearly wanted it more.
At the final whistle, it was the Monedderlust players, fans and coaching staff that were up in jubilant celebration at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue. They defeated Slingerz 1-0 through an early fourth-minute strike off the boot of forward Brentnol Frank while the Berbice-based club’s defence staved off the offensive efforts of their opponents. The win means that the Berbicians will return to the Elite League in early February after a prolonged absence.
Stabroek Sport engaged Monedderlust FC Team Manager Beniah Reynolds in light of his team’s triumphant return to the top tier of Guyana’s club football and he credited his team’s focus on fitness as their main strength throughout the tournament.
Quizzed on his side’s mindset heading into the final, Reynolds revealed; “They were fully motivated and I spoke to them to ensure that they were mentally prepared. I spoke to them about how they should play Slingerz based on what I saw from them (Slingerz) in previous matches in the early stages of the tournament. We tackled their fitness aspect because I noticed that their players were not on our level in terms of being able to run throughout the game so I told our guys to try to run them into the ground”.
With respect to Monedderlust’s exceptional fitness level, Reynolds told Stabroek Sport that it was all down to “hard, hard work and dedication”.
“Intense training led to our fitness levels. Monday to Friday we trained, focusing on running and putting in the hard work where it was needed. We not only focused on running all the time as we had strict on the ball training sometimes as well but most times it was running, hard running. I must commend the players because they were disciplined and committed, they continued to show up to training and that is what we as a club are looking for.”
Questioned about his thoughts on their successful campaign, Reynolds stated; “I am satisfied, fully, because they played to their ability and strengths, and it reflected in our win, I’m very proud of them”.
Monedderlust FC which is based in the community of No. 5 in West Coast Berbice, took part in the first two seasons of the GFF Elite League and were relegated in 2016. Reynolds when asked about what it means for the community and his club to make a return after eight years, said; “It means a lot to the community and club, with this win, the community can see that the youths in the club are doing something worthwhile with their time. I think that it would now push the community to offer more support to the youth as 95% of the youths are engaged in playing football. You can see that the love for the game is there”.
Along with promotion to the Elite League, Monedderlust’s win guaranteed them a $1 million grant from the GFF to aid in their preparation for the upcoming season.
Reynolds expressed appreciation for that grant as he noted it would help the club greatly. “The cash grant that was won will help us out a lot, we will be able to get more kits and training equipment. We will be able to do more in terms of being match ready as we will now be able to invite other clubs to come for friendly games to aid in our preparation”.
Captain and centre back Paul McDonald along with fellow defender Stephone Moore and Goalkeeper Raynel Frank were standouts throughout the tournament with the latter being named Most Valuable Player as well. According to Reynolds, the club benefits from having brilliant individuals which is an offshoot of the club’s ever flourishing pool of talent coming through the U-15 and U-17 age groups.
“The aim is now to go further, we have to be more disciplined, we have to be more organised and we have to improve and step it up in every area. We have to be professional because we want to stay there”.
Despite their loss, Slingerz FC will have another crack at making the Elite League as they will have the opportunity to play the 9th placed side (Victoria Kings FC) from the previous Elite League season. The winner of that match is guaranteed the last spot for the upcoming season.
The Elite League Promotional Playoffs began on December 17th of last year and saw nine teams (winners of their respective Member Associations’ Leagues) clash for the chance of entry into the country’s highest level of club football.
Those teams were Beacons (Bartica Football Association), Beacon (Georgetown Football Association), Buxton Stars (East Coast Demerara Football Association), Dominators (Essequibo/Pomeroon Football Association), Herstelling Raiders (East Bank Demerara Football Association), Monedderlust (Berbice Football Association), Slingerz (West Demerara Football Association), Tabatinga (Rupununi Football Association), and Winners Connection (Upper Demerara Football Association).
