Dominant Slingerz are still perfecting aspects as they hunt Elite League glory

Though the second half of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League kicked off last night, current league leaders Slingerz Football Club will have to wait until later this week to get back out on the park.
Since their 1-0 triumph against defending champions Guyana Defence Force (GDF) FC, Slingerz have been hard at work during their mid-season preparation.
Reflecting on the first nine games of their 2025 campaign in which they have gone unbeaten, Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz expressed his pride at the team’s performance, noting that his team is deserving of their top spot.
Shabazz expressed, “I’m very proud of the work that the guys put in in the pre-season and the way they maintained their effort throughout the matches in the first round, and I think they deserve to be in this position, and all credit to them for the effort and competitiveness that they showed, and I was really, really happy with the results that they got.”
“Of course, there were some games that were harder than some; I remember quite well the police game, the GDF game, and the Western game. They were all games that really extended us,” he added.

Continuing in his reflection, Shabazz looked back at their game against GDF and what hindered a bigger win, going on to pinpoint areas that needed work during the mid-season.
“Well, I felt we didn’t keep the ball long enough for too long periods in the game; it was a dogfight, and I think the occasion of just wanting to win took us away a bit from us trying to keep the ball and build the attack. You know, I’d like to see us build the attack some more against them, and it’s definitely something we need to work on some more coming into this second round,” the Slingerz head coach explained.
He went on to elucidate, “I think we could’ve negotiated the long ball better from the opponents. We looked very vulnerable at times when that ball was played over the top and the ability of the back four to drop quicker to deal with it. That often put us in a footrace with quick strikers; I remember the Conquerors game in particular – we got a scare because we played a little bit flat for too long. So, definitely how we deal with that long ball in the second round is something that we want to work on.”
“We also want to improve on set plays and dead-ball situations. You know, in tight games, dead-ball situations could determine the result, and we want to spend a lot more time on that as well as overall fitness.”
The former Golden Jaguars gaffer did not shy away from highlighting those players who stood out in the first half, expressing his appreciation for their ability to mesh well.
Shabazz gave credit to his players, stating, “I think the engine room of the team in the first round was definitely central midfield, Darron Niles and Curtez Kellman in particular. I thought we saw some good things from Jeremy Garrett and Quincy Adams at the back, and of course, Akel Clarke was very, very durable. In saying that, the goal-scoring form of Kemar Beckford and the assists of Kelsey Benjamin all helped to produce that dominance.”
“All in all, I think the team meshed well, and guys played their roles well. Of course, there are a couple things I’d like to see us work on and do better going into the second round and improve on our performance and try to keep up the results,” he went on to share with this publication.
A subtle warning in his observation regarding the league, Shabazz emphasised the need for training and fitness in the league, opining that teams who do not want to should be punished.
“One of the things that separates the teams in the Elite League is fitness. If you look at the top four teams at the end of the first round, the one difference between them and the rest of the teams is consistency in training and fitness,” the former Golden Jaguars head coach observed.
On that note, he opined, “We have a duty to raise the standard of the league, and a lot of the teams who do not want to train will be punished, and I think it’s a duty on the top teams to punish the smaller teams in the league, especially if those smaller teams don’t want to train. This casual ‘want something for nothing’ approach has crept into Guyana’s football. It was not something that happened 20-15 years ago. People used to like to train, and players used to like to be fit. Now we find a lot of players, especially in the smaller teams, who just want to come and play. They should be punished, and they should learn a lesson for it.”
The second half of the Elite League began with a double-header on Saturday night at the GFF’s National Training Centre, Providence, and continues with another double-header at the same venue this evening.