Swan disposes of St Cuthbert’s Mission in Region 4 Heritage playoff

Swan Football Team, with a number of players drawn from Swan’s Under-15 and Under-18 teams, firmly withstood a spirited challenge to demolish St Cuthbert’s Mission in a three-way competition that would see the winner being selected to represent Region Four in the 2018 Heritage Football Competition.

In a match reminiscent of the biblical youth David taking on the colossal Goliath, the well uniformed Swan team took on the St Cuthbert’s Team in an encounter played out at the St Cuthbert’s Mission ground; and evidently, a number of older players were in the St Cuthbert’s lineup.

Swan opened the scoring in the eleventh minute through Eran Hussain, who skilfully dribbled three St Cuthbert’s players before sending the ball rocketing into the net with a solid right foot kick.

St Cuthbert’s had a perfect opportunity to level the score four minutes later through a penalty taken by Lorenzo Clenkian, but Clenkian kicked the ball way over the cross bar, messing up his team’s chances.

However, 23 minutes into the game, St Cuthbert’s equalised when Zack Ferreira stunned the Swan goalkeeper with a terrific bolt of lightning that exploded at the back of the Swan net.

Playing a better game, Swan scored their second goal in the 31st minute when Mellon Joseph did the honours, and they held on to the one goal lead until half time.

In the second-half play, in the 53rd minute, Swan increased their goals through Ishmael Pulsram.

Then in the 57th minute, Edson Williams added his lot to the Swan tally, making the scoresheet read 4-1 in favour of Swan.

But a determined St Cuthbert’s Mission team was evidently determined to reduce the score, and was able to remind of their presence in the 59th minute through Leo Evans. Thus the final whistle blew with the score reading 4-2 in Swan’s favour.

Coach and manager of the Swan Football Team, Andre Gonsalves, expressed satisfaction at his team’s triumph. He noted that the players stuck to their original game plan of seeking to control the ball while looking for opportunities to score.

“I think we may have missed about two or three scoring opportunities; but, overall, we played very well, and it is reflective in the results,” he said.

Gonsalves expressed confidence that his team would win the play-off, thus earning the right to represent Region Four at the National Heritage Competition.

“This is our first year playing in the competition, as we pulled out last year before the play-offs owing to what we termed unprofessional and unsportsmanlike behaviour of some of the players representing other teams. However, thus year we are here, and I can assure you that while we are fielding a young team, the guys are very determined to win this playoff,” Gonsalves declared.

St Cuthbert’s Mission will now play Laluni Football team, with the winner playing Swan in the final for the opportunity to represent Region Four at the National Heritage Games slated for this weekend in Georgetown.