Paradise crush Rendezvous
Paradise were at their irresistible best on Sunday night, inflicting a merciless 8-2 thrashing on their rivals Rendezvous in the Barbados Football Association’s Premier League.
Brittons Hill and champions Weymouth Wales also grabbed victories in the first round of out-of-zone matches in.
Paradise and Rendezvous’ 10-goal thriller at the Wildey AstroTurf took centre stage after nine-man Brittons Hill stunned struggling UWI Blackbirds to take all three points in the evening’s curtain-raiser.
Wales ended the proceedings with an entertaining 1-0 win over previously undefeated Zone 2 leaders Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP).
It was a joyous feast of goals for Paradise. Having been made to wait over half-hour for any productive goal mouth action, the appetizers came out speedily in the 31st minute.
Chai Lloyd reacted first to prod home after Akeel Applewhaite’s stinging drive was parried by goalkeeper Romaine Primus. A minute later Mario Williams piqued the patrons’ interest even more with a side-foot finish and Lloyd kept up the pace, returning to convert Applewhaite’s pinpoint cross.
Paradise kicked off the second half with a tasty three-goal lead that Mario Williams extended to four in the 54th minute. Three minutes later, Elijah Downey easily set up Lloyd’s hat-trick goal before Theo Browne scored from Mario Williams’ corner in the 62nd minute to surely put to bed any hopes of a Rendezvous revival.
Christopher Shepherd Jr, who scored a hat-trick in last week’s 4-4 draw with Compton, had other ideas. The forward converted a superb penalty in the 64th minute to put a bit of respect on Rendezvous’ name.
Lloyd returned the earlier favour in the 70th minute with an effortless pass leaving Downey to score. Substitute Armando Lashley made it eight in the 75th minute.
The cherry-on-top was a rocket of a free kick from Nicholas Jones’ left boot in the 82nd minute to pull another one back for Rendezvous for a fitting end to a sumptuous feast of goals.
Brittons Hill United kicked off the proceedings at 4 p.m., battling against UWI Blackbirds. The Blackbirds were the more dominant in the first half but Brittons Hill goalkeeper and eventual Player of the match Shaquille Frank frustrated the UWI attackers at every opportunity.
Brittons Hill’s combative midfielder Jermaine Forde was sent off for his second yellow in first half stoppage time, making the task appear even more mountainous for his team.
Star forward Denzil Fordyce was introduced shortly after the resumption and added spark to his team’s play. Sure enough, he would get his goal in the 53rd minute and with UWI lacking ideas and killer instinct in the box, Brittons Hill held on for the win, not before Fordyce himself was be sent off because of second yellow for apparent time-wasting.
The night-cap contest only required a single goal to settle it as well. Weymouth Wales Rashida Williams was on hand to score in the sixth minute to give his side the lead.
Wales, fresh from the CONCACAF Shield competition in the Dominican Republic, were eager to impress their waiting supporters with a solid display after three losses in the regional tournament. Williams’ goal was enough as the highly-anticipated battle between zone leaders ended in a surprisingly modest score. (NM)