By Neto Baptiste
Coach of the All Saints United FC and former national player, Schyan Jeffers, believes his team has what it takes to compete in the football association’s Premier Division, adding they will fight to the final whistle in an effort to remain in the competition for another season.
“As you know, it’s still tight and three points can change everything. So we are still trying to keep the focus, we are still trying to build a momentum and we are still trying to score all of our opportunities that we’ve gotten so far. We are trying to take one step at a time and trying to make our way forward because we just came up,” he said.
United were 3-1 winners over Five Islands at the Antigua Recreation Grounds (ARG) on Saturday to move out of the two-team automatic relegation zone. The win, their fourth in 15 matches, carried them to 16 points, two ahead of Five Islands and three ahead of Parham FC who are both facing relegation from the top flight.
The competition, Jeffers said, has been a learning curve for his players.
“We haven’t been up there for a long time and it’s kind of new to us, so they are learning fast, learning the art of the premier league and how competitive it is so far. I hope that we can stay up so we could definitely give a better showing next year,” he said.
“My main focus is to stay in the Premier Division and I know it is definitely going to be tough this season. I am putting all of my hopes and efforts in staying in the Premier Division because I know we can have a better showing next season,” the coach added.
The team finishing third from bottom in the competition will go into a playoff with the teams finishing third and fourth in the First Division. The winner of the playoff will earn a spot in the top flight for the 2020/21 domestic football season.
Grenades continue to lead the division with 30 points, just one point ahead of second placed Greenbay Hoppers FC.