Slingerz FC crash out of CFU Club Shield

It was a heart-breaking exit for Guyana’s Elite League champions, Slingerz Football Club (FC), from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Shield on Tuesday afternoon, going down 4-0 to former CFU champions SV Robinhood out of Suriname.
Forced to leave out their defensive stalwart and usual captain Quincy Adams on account of an injury picked up in their Round of 16 outing, Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz opted for a starting XI that included Captain Curtez Kellman, goalkeeper Jamaine Cumberbatch, Romaine Brackenridge, Leo Lovell, Kvist Paul, Raushaun Ritch, Solomon Austin, Yusifu Kargbo, Kelsey Benjamin, Kemar Beckford, and Neron Barrow.
It was a nervy start to the quarter-final contest at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima, on both ends of the pitch as the geographical neighbours south found their rhythm. That came sooner for SV Robinhood Slingerz FC had their first glance at the goal around the 35th minute with a shot from Kelsey Benjamin almost deceiving the keeper when it came down from the crossbar. Kemar Beckford and Neron Barrow, positioned in front of the goal, just could not connect, and on another attempt from the Guyanese side, Yusifu Kargbo sent the rebound shot over the crossbar.
SV Robinhood’s counterattack after that very play led to their first strike of the game.

Carlos DaSilva had the assist, crossing the ball to Renske Adipi, who took the long shot from outside the box, sending it into the right corner under a diving Cumberbatch.
Slingerz’s defences would hold out for the remainder of the half to see a 1-0 score at the interval.
Two changes at the half for Slingerz saw Derrell Garcia and Jeronimo Taborda coming into the contest, but not even their attacking prowess could compensate for the “off-day” Slingerz were having.
By the 59th minute, Ravella Ziljer made it a 2-0 contest by heel-kicking the ball into the net at close range after Cumberbatch failed to intercept the cross. Less than 10 minutes later, Dimitrio Andro added to Robinhood’s tally, slipping the ball between the keeper’s legs in the 66th.
The Surinamese club then capped off a solid display with their fourth in the 75th minute. On that occasion, Zilla, with the advantage, won a 1v1 against Brackenridge, slotting the ball home at the near post to complete his brace.
In the aftermath of the loss, Kellman shared some thoughts with the CFU media team, admitting SV Robinhood were the better side on the day.
“It was a very good game. Robinhood proved that they were the better team on the day. We came out a bit slow, started a bit slow; we had an easy chance in the first half that we think that we should’ve capitalised on, and if we had taken that chance, the game probably would’ve been a different game, but we saw that Robinhood was the hungrier of the bunch,” Kellman shared.
Reflecting on where it went wrong for his side, the midfielder explained, “I don’t want to blame it on rest; we had two days to recover, but I think it’s lack of execution. You know, the coach put out a task for us to go out as a team and execute, and we didn’t do that as a team. So, in the end, football is a game where if you don’t execute your task, you get punished. Robinhood were very good at taking their opportunities, and we got punished.”
Quizzed about their next steps, Kellman hinted at an intention to champion the Elite League once again in order to book their spot in next year’s Club Shield.
Kellman said, “We want to use this as a learning curve because this is our first time here at the Shield, and I think that we did pretty well. I think, back home now, we focus on the domestic league so that we can come back here next year and prove ourselves as a dominant team.”
Slingerz FC had a strong start to their inaugural appearance at the Club Shield in Trinidad and Tobago, downing Turks and Caicos’ SWA Sharks 4-0 before overcoming Prison Service FC 4-3 in the Round of 16.