The youthful Kick Start have come of age.
They wrote a new chapter in the club’s history with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Carlton at the National Stadium on Tuesday night to become the 2012 Barbados Football Association’s Division 2 champions.
Okeski Leadette scored the winning goal in the 53rd minute. Tuesday night’s victory followed Kick Start’s win over Weymouth Wales last Tuesday, giving them an unblemished record in the three-team championship play-off.
“The fellows played really well. The guys were very disciplined. We played the whole season and not one of our players was red-carded,” coach Tony Hall told NATIONSPORT after the match.
Kick Start got their goal immediately following the resumption of play after goalkeeper Corey Bridgeman received on-field treatment, and it may have resulted from a lapse in concentration by Carlton.
Leadette received a pass from Dario Haynes, controlled the ball and placed a firm shot past the left hand of Carlton’s goalkeeper Joshua Plaza.
Carlton had a couple of chances to equalize, but it just wasn’t Andre Leslie’s night.
He scooped a volley high over the goal bars and given the responsibility of taking a penalty in the 75th minute after a handled ball in the Kick Start 18-yard box, he had his spot kick brilliantly saved by Bridgeman, moving to his right.
Rashad Jules was a livewire for Kick Start, dribbling through the Kyson Forde-marshalled Carlton defence, but was let down by his finishing, shooting over the bars and hitting wide of the right post on different occasions.
Whereas Elsid Miggins, Taurean Greenidge and Amal Mayers were solid in midfield for Kick Start, Myles Norville was a tower of strength in defence, getting support from Keiron Cox and Daniel Griffith.
Bridgeman was never really tested by Zari Prescod, the freshman at John Brown University in Arkansas, while Brett Carrington was marked closely throughout.
The former Harrison College standout, who played for the national senior side as a teenager before taking up a soccer scholarship in the United States, has put on a few extra pounds.
There was one memorable move from him, when he flicked the ball away from his marker and swept it across the goalmouth from along the byline, but none of his teammates reacted in time.
Both Kick Start and Carlton have gained promotion to the Division One competition, and Hall said his boys should give a good account of themselves next year as they target a spot in the Premier League in the future.
“I know that we will do very well. Missing players of the calibre of Ricardio Morris and Raheim Sargeant to the Barbados Defence Force this year, I thought that was more encouragement they had to rally together,” he said.
