Reigning knockout kings Weymouth Wales have emerged as the early contenders to win this year’s Digicel Premier League football title.
The Carrington Village-based side won their second straight match 1-0 in the feature game at the National Stadium on Sunday night to bring new boys KDJ Auto Parts/Gatorade Dayrells Road back to earth after their maiden Premiership victory the previous Sunday against Bagatelle.
New Wales’ acquisition Zaeehaeus Polius lurking inside the six-yard box, poked the ball across the line for the only goal of the match in the 51st minute after Dwayne Stanford pushed Duwayne Peters’ cross into the path of Paul Lovell whose shot deflected off a defender.
Wales, with Shawn Clarke marshalling the defence and keeping striker Tristan Parris at bay, finished the match with nine men.
They lost captain Julian Mottley with 15 minutes left for a second bookable offence, while substitute Corey Griffith, who was on the field for just six minutes, was also redcarded by referee Terry Butcher for stamping Parris just before the final whistle.
Wales also had to make an early substitution after striker Dwayne McClean stepped on the ball and hurt his knee but his replacement, teenaged striker Kemar Headley, was a live wire on the right flank, tormenting Dayrells Road’s right-back Philip Belle with some nifty dribbles.
Still, Wales were not able to turn their dominance into more goals with Dwayne Stanford coming close on at least three occasions.
The Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) also defied the odds, playing without Jason Lovell and Chai Lloyd, who were serving automatic one-game bans, to come from behind twice and beat Pinelands 3-2 in the opening match.
Lionel Paul gave Pinelands an early lead after five minutes and to compound the BDF’s woes, they were then forced to bring on Nicholas Best for national player Kadeem Atkins, who twisted his ankle after only 23 minutes.
But the BDF outfit, still without any new recruits as the enrolment process hasn’t been finalized, battled back to make it 1-1 at half-time with a 41st minute equalizer from Kyle Gibson. Paul restored Pinelands’ lead eight minutes into the second half but the army football recruits again knotted the score at 2-2 through captain Mario Harte in the 75th minute.
Three minutes later, midfielder Shamar Edwards netted the winner in the 78th minute.
In the all-St Michael middle match, Claytons Kola Tonic Notre Dame and Mackeson Brittons Hill played to a thrilling 1-1 draw.
With veteran Gregory “Lalu” Goodridge in his first game, captain Riviere Williams capitalized on a melee to drill a well-placed shot into Dames’ goalkeeper Kareem Farrell’s far corner in the 15th minute.
Dames equalized in the 28th minute as captain John “Nobby” Parris scored his third penalty after Omar Archer brought down Rudy Grosvenor.
The second half was an eventful one as both teams had their fair share of chances to get the winning goal.
For Dames, DeCarlo Jemmott was guilty of turning away from goal too often when he should he taking the ball towards the goal, while experienced midfielder John Hawkesworth was unlucky as a free-kick ricochetted from under the crossbar but did not go over the line, and Carl Joseph, after dribbling past at least three opponents, hit over the bars.
At the other end, Arantes Lawrence attempted a silly back-heel instead of shooting, while Angus Coppin had a low shot, through a crowded Dames’ defence, pushed away for a corner by goalkeeper Farrell, who was lucky to grab a rebound after Williams nodded on a right-side cross to Hendy Richards, who headed the ball clear of the goalkeeper only to see it hit the inside of the post.
