By Samuel Peters
The Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) Premier League saw an action-packed opening round on Saturday with three matches that delivered goals, upsets, and drama.
Grenades, who spent most of the summer traversing the Caribbean, were simply too good for Five Islands, Willikies Warriors stunned Greenbay Hoppers, Aston Villa edged past Parham FC.
In a surprising turn of events, Willikies Warriors secured a 3-1 victory over Greenbay Hoppers in the first encounter of the day. The first goal came from the boot of Zahdeir Forde in the 20th minute which took an early lead for Warriors, but then Jevorn Stevens converted a penalty in the 34th minute for Hoppers to equalise to end the first half. However, the men from Greenbay’s fortunes changed in the second half, when Chad Williams received a red card in the 54th minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Willikies capitalised on their numerical advantage, with goals from Novelle Francis Jr (68′), and James Simon (90+2′). The Warriors’ victory was slightly marred by Shayen Hastings receiving a red card in the 84th minute for a second caution, bringing both sides down to 10 men.
The second match saw FC Aston Villa emerge victorious in a close encounter against Parham FC, winning 2-1. Parham’s Andy Daniel opened the scoring in the 34th minute, but Aston Villa turned the tables in the second half. Jay Bowen equalised in the 51st minute, followed by Joshua Ferdinand‘s winner in the 70th minute.
The day’s most lopsided result featured a goal fest which came from the Sandals Grenades FC versus Five Islands FC match, with Grenades securing a resounding 9-0 victory. Barrington Blake led the charge with a hat-trick (21st, 43rd, 53rd’ [penalty]), while Eugene Kirwan and Sherman Augustin each scored braces.
Five Islands’ woes were compounded by two red cards: Leon Joseph in first-half stoppage time for a second caution, and Demario Roberts in the 52nd minute for using offensive language towards the referee. Other goal scorers for Grenades included Sean Tomlinson 69th and an own goal by Marcus Johnson 48th.