Despite the wet conditions and heavy rainfall at Kensington Oval last Sunday, action is starting to heat up in the LIME Pelican Football Challenge.
There was just the smoke in the opening match when a fired-up Broad Street Men and Women’s Red Tridents upstaged inaugural champions Tiger Malt Bajan Pride 1-0, through a goal midway in the first half by Dwayne “Boot” Griffith.
Griffith, who had a brief taste of play at the senior national level last year, is definitely a player who should still be part of Barbados’ team for the Caribbean Football Union’s Cup.
What made Red Tridents’ victory even more significant is that it was achieved without the services of two key players in Rommel Burgess and the talented Kadeem “Buju” Atkins, who both suffered injuries in the 4-1 first match defeat to Top Bay Settlers.
Akademiks then enjoyed their second triumph in as many matches when they came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Emmerson Boyce 5th Avenue Bajan Elite, courtesy Arantees Lawrence’s 43rd-minute strike.
Once again, Mario Harte played his heart out for the Pinelands-based side but was clearly jaded from playing three internationals for Barbados in the space of five days.
Then came the real fireworks as Phoenix UFO Toyota Firehouse burnt Nu Look 360 Connection 3-0 with goals from Llewellyn Broomes (32nd minute), Kemar Bartlett (57th) and Paul “Soup” Lovell (84th).
Former Barbados captain Norman Forde and Lovell showed all and sundry that they are still arguably the best two attacking midfielders in the country with a sizzling display.
Many pundits reckon Forde still has plenty to offer Barbados’ football at the national level.
Even though he is now 35 years old and has announced his retirement from international football, my view is that he should reconsider that decision as I firmly believe he can be utilized as a striker in the national set-up instead of having the burdensome task of being playmaker in midfield.
I still vividly recall his hat-trick against Suriname during Barbados’ unbeaten three-match second round play in Cuba in the 2008 Digicel Cup when then coach Thomas Jordan used him as a striker.
While our forwards just weren’t clinical enough in the recent CFU Cup matches against Dominica, the Dominican Republic and Aruba, I’m prepared to give them some time as, apart from Harte, the likes of Tristan Parris, Kemar Headley, Kyle Gibson and Armando Lashley are rookies. Headley is just 18, while Gibson and Lashley are only 20 years old.
Another player whom I was particularly impressed with is Firehouse’s midfielder Kemar Bartlett, who plays for Parish Land in the Barbados Football Association’s Division One competition.
He scored a gem of goal, picking up the ball just past the halfway line and gliding past two opposing players before unleashing a scintillating left-foot shot that sailed into the roof of the nets.
Shawn King, who was also a workhorse in midfield for 360 Connection, is another who, along with a few others, should be called up to national training.
Should Barbados qualify for the second stage of the CFU Cup as one of the best second-placed finishers, it is critical that the best available footballers represent the country.
