Young Gunz fired blanks while Platinum FC of Vieux Fort South proved they are indeed precious metal, in winning the Guinness Street Challenge Small Goals Football title late Sunday evening at the Cacabef in Vieux Fort.
A total of 16 teams competed in the grand finale, which was a knockout affair played under rainy conditions. In the final Platinum FC defeated Young Gunz of Micoud 1-0. The goal was scored by their Captain Jamil Joseph who is also a striker for the national team.
In the semi-finals Platinum FC had defeated Pumas of La Perle 1-0, on a goal scored by national midfielder Kevin Edward. Young Gunz won 2-1 on penalties over Fantastic of Soufriere in the other semi-final after a goalless draw at regulation time.
For their victory Platinum FC received EC$4,000 and the chance to represent St Lucia at the regional finals in St Vincent and the Grenadines from June 20-23. They were the St Lucian representatives at the regional finals in Guyana last year where they finished in fourth place.
In an interview following their victory, Team Captain Jamil Joseph pointed out that they had a plan to come out and retain the title and a key to that was the inclusion of National Football Captain Sheldon “Ras” Emmanuel to strengthen the team, as some of the players on last year’s squad are out of the island.
He said: “We had a plan, score one goal defend it and I think we did that well. In spite of the condition of the weather we still proved that we are the champions. We went out and displayed championship form.”
He gave high praise to teammate Emmanuel for orchestrating the victory. “We brought him in to strengthen the team because he is very skillful with the ball. He knows what to do and he’s the captain of the national team. I think that’s a good buy bringing him on the team to defend our cup and go to St Vincent and try to win the title there.”
When asked about the team’s chances of winning the regional finals in St Vincent Joseph replied: “We have a plan for it. This time we will go there and execute it. Same as we did here we will go and execute it in St Vincent.”
