Parham and Hoppers remain on course in top flight title race with victories

A 6-0 trouncing of relegation-threatened Liberta Blackhawks, on Sunday, ensured that former champions Asot’s Arcade Parham remain four points clear of defending champions Greenbay Hoppers in the Antigua & Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) Premier Division at the ARG.
A double strike from Jensse Salles in minutes 2 and 15 alongside goals from Ranjae Christian in minute 9, Reginald Richardson in minute 58, Trevaughn Harriette in minute 74 and Hakeem Joseph in minute 81, secured the huge victory for Parham.
They move to 31 points at the top of the standings while Liberta Blackhawks are second from bottom with nine points after 12 showings.
Coach of the Parham team, Rolston Williams, took note that there were five different scorers in his team’s victory.
“It says that we have a rounded team. We are not looking on a particular individual to shoot [score] so we’re happy about that. If you look at the whole season in terms of goal-scoring, we have a number of persons with 5, 6, 4 and 3 goals so we’re happy about that. At any time anyone can come up trump and it is important because when you depend on an individual and they are being marked then your team will be in trouble,” he said.
Where it regards the title race, Williams believes the hunt is still wide open.
“We are fighting hard along with teams like Hoppers and Grenades. I just believe that the teams that remains focused, the team that plays more consistent will win the cup. At this point in time, Parham and Hoppers are playing consistent football. We are only four points away from them,” he said.
“We have to continue to win to continue to put pressure on them for them to slip, so it’s still a horse race in terms of who is winning the championship,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hoppers remained in the hunt with a 3-1 victory over a spirited Glanvilles outfit in the second match of Sunday’s triple-header.
The Greenbay men were led by Novell Francis Jr who had double strikes, scoring in minutes 43 and 71, respectively. An own-goal by Glanvilles’ Daviae Aaron had given Hoppers a 1-0 advantage in the 26th minute.
Glanvilles’ lone strike of the match came from Mickel Phillip who rocketed a bullet past national goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad in minute 65.
In the day’s feature contest, Empire and Tryum played to a 3-3 draw. Nickardo Lindsay, Zeno Solomon and Javin Sutherland all netted for Empire, while Eli Greene had a double strike for Tryum. Tryum’s other goal was scored by Danio Myers.
Empire move to 13 points and sixth in the standings following the draw while Tryum edge to 11 points and third from bottom.