The Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) continued their perfect start to the Barbados Football Association’s Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Home Improvement Hardware Waterford Compton.
In the other match at the Wildey AstroTurf on Thursday, Barbados Soccer Academy (BSA) notched a 1-0 win over Pride of Gall Hill in their summit clash in Zone 2 of Division 1.
In the concluding game of the fourth round in this season’s Premiership, goals from BDFSP stand-in captain Shaquille Boyce and Kyle Gibson preserved their perfect start, a statistic they share with 2017 champions, Neighbourhood Care Pharmacy Weymouth Wales, currently away in the Dominican Republic at the inaugural CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield.
The result also means that, like fellow Zone 2 clubs Mark’s Auto Spares Porey Springs, UWI Blackbirds and Rendezvous, Waterford Compton are still to secure their first win this season.
Noticeably missing from the BDFSP line-up for their clash with Compton was first-choice goalkeeper Kishmar Primus and regular starters Rashad Jules, Raheem Sargeant and Omani Leacock.
BDFSP dictated the tempo of the game as is their custom, but lacked a real cutting edge in front of goal for large portions of the game.
Nevertheless, their unyielding defence, which has conceded just a single goal this season, kept stand-in goalie Albert Brathwaite well protected amidst some scattered chances for Compton, some of which even rattled the woodwork.
Boyce broke the deadlock minutes before half-time when a lapse in concentration by Compton allowed him to score unchallenged past Oba Tucker in the Compton goal. Boyce’s strike partner Gibson doubled the lead ten minutes after the resumption with a smart finish, as BDFSP carefully saw out their fourth win in a row.
Second-tier Division 1 teams Barbados Soccer Academy and Pride of Gall Hill also got the chance to do battle under the dazzling lights at Wildey. A solitary strike by Melvin Doxilly in the 61st minute gained BSA all three points and a five-point cushion with a game in hand over Gall Hill, who are in second place in Zone 2.
Some distance away in third in the standings are Youth Milan, closely pursued by Bagatelle and BDF (not to be confused with Premier League club BDFSP). St Philip-based L & R United sit sixth while Deacons are bottom of the zone, having started the season with a disciplinary action of being docked 6 points.
In Zone 1, however, the points are less widely spread. Wotton FC currently lead the zone with 22 points from their 11 games played while St Andrew Lions, comprising largely players from the runners-up St Andrew team in the David Thompson Memorial Constituency Council Football Classic, are hot on their heels, two points behind in second.
Potential Ballers, Haynesville, Parish Land and Blackspurs make up the mid table with only three points separating Potential Ballers in third and Blackspurs in sixth. Sunrise Ballers bring up the rear in that Zone with seven points.
BSA’s top scorer Noah Nicholas is also the division’s leading marksman with ten goals, scoring five goals alone in a cross-zone fixture, an 8-0 annihilation of Potential Ballers. (NM)
