Moses: Molvin stabilised Tryum in second round

A late surge by Harney Motors Tryum has guaranteed them a spot in the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) Premier Division for the 2018/19 domestic season.
Tryum had languished in the bottom half of the 10-team standings for most of the 2017/18 competition, but with four wins from their last seven matches, Tryum now sit at mid-table with 23 points after 16 showings.
The odds of Tryum being relegated from the top flight, with just two rounds of matches left in the competition, are extremely slim.
Coach, Leon Moses Jr. has credited the inclusion of national goalkeeper Molvin James as partly responsible for the team’s new found momentum.
“Thanks to Molvin, he brings a lot to the goalkeeping and the guys respect him a lot. I have to say that the goalkeeping makes a huge difference in the second round because we haven’t conceded too many goals in the second round. We were trying to not concede any goals in the last game, but unfortunately, there was a little mishap and we conceded one. So, in the next upcoming game, we are trying our best to wipe-off the negative off our goal difference,” Moses said.
Of their seven matches in the second round thus far, Tryum has won four, drawn two and lost one.
They opened the second round with a 1-1 draw against Swetes before beating Old Road 2-0. They then lost 2-1 to Greenbay Hoppers before shocking defending champions Parham FC 1-0.
The victory was followed by a 1-1 draw with frontrunners Five Islands and then a 2-0 victory over SAP. Tryum’s latest win, a 2-1 beating of Empire, came on Saturday.
Moses said his team is, however, not done yet.
“We’re trying to get 17 points out of the second round and we have gotten 14 so far, so we have three more points to accumulate. After we have gotten that, we can look forward for a fourth place or anywhere around that region,” the coach said.
Fitzroy Rewinding Pigotts Bullets, on 16 points and Cool & Smooth/ACT Empire, on 8 points, are the two teams currently in the automatic relegation zone. Old Road, who also have 16 points, boast a superior goal difference to that of Bullets which put them in the number 8 position.
The team finishing 8 will go into a three-team round-robin playoff with teams finishing third and fourth in the First Division. The team finishing with the most points at the end of the playoff will join the other two teams promoted to the top flight.