Friday, March 29, 2024

KO finalists fired up

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The battle lines have already been drawn ahead of Sunday’s KFC Champions Cup knockout final between Mackeson Brittons Hill and OKG Rendezvous at the Wildey Football AstroTurf.
Rendezvous’ assistant coach Chesterfield “Datsun” Simpson is confident that the highly regarded Division 2 side can create modern-day history in Barbados by becoming the first lower division side in three decades to win the Knockout title.
“I am confident. We are playing basic, disciplined football and we will come away with the trophy,” he told MIDWEEK?SPORT.
Simpson, a former Barbados defender who was part of the cup-winning Paradise and Notre Dame teams, said the Rendezvous side was on a mission to rule football in Barbados.
“If you want to be a top team, you got to beat all the Premier League teams to be dominant in Barbados,”?he said. “That is what we are about.
“We beat Notre Dame and we beat Gall Hill tonight [Sunday]. The next team is Brittons Hill and we will send a message that we are a dominant team.”
But while he is confident, Simpson is not going to take Brittons Hill lightly.
“You have to plan carefully for Brittons Hill because they [have] got Riviere Williams and Arantees Lawrence. They [have] got good strikers.
“Attack does win games but defence does win tournaments, so once we defend strong, we will come away because our attack does get goals for us,” he contended.
Brittons Hill’s coach Fabian Wharton reckons his side must play at the same standard as they have been doing in the Premier League.
“The reality of the situation is if we want to win the Knockout championship, we have to improve in all areas and make sure that we are ready on Sunday,” he said.
 “Our standard of play in the Premier League is very high but somehow we are not getting that same standard in the Knockout competition.
“The resources are the same, so if we produce the kind of performance like today [semi-final on Sunday], we are to be asking for trouble.
“But at the end of the day, I think we have the resources that we need to do the job.
“What we need to do is to produce the performance and do the job that is given to us come finals day,” he said.
“I am very confident of winning as long as my team play to instructions.
“I’ve studied Rendezvous extensively,” Wharton added. “I have video footage of them. I was watching them over the last weekend again but the reality of the situation is this, you have to use your resources well.”
Looking back at Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Gall Hill, Simpson said once Rendezvous had scored first, he knew their opponents weren’t going to equalize against his experienced defenders such as Wayne Sobers, Floyd Bailey and Gregory “Lalu” Goodridge, three players who are all over 40 years old.
“Good teams win 1-0. Those men are winners. The men are hungry still. The men feel they are 20 still, so that is why they are playing and not me.
“Young boys can’t get past them men. You got to bring the more experienced older men to beat them.
“If you realize, Shaquille Boyce, “Pappy” (Jabarry Chandler) couldn’t get past “Guy” (Wayne Sobers) and Floyd (Bailey) at 80 years old between them and with “Lalu” (Gregory Goodridge), our defence is 120 years; young boys can’t run past them,” Simpson boasted.

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