Uprising Start Second Round with Statement Win!
After a hectic week off the field for the club with transfer announcements and other duties, Uprising took to the field against Diamond FC for our first game in the second round of fixtures in this season’s AFL domestic league championship. There was much excitement ahead of the game due to four of the five new signings being available for selection (two starting Thierry Amorsinh and Cardinae Rennie) to complement our already talented pool of players!
We started the game on the front foot and had our first effort at goal on the three-minute mark when the man with a million nicknames, Tre ‘Pirlo, 1942, Vintage, Real Man Gumbs’ tried his luck from 20 yards out but unfortunately his shot sailed over the bar. Three minutes later we had our young GK Shemor Browne to thank for denying Smeins of Diamond FC with a good save.
A quiet passage of play followed with Uprising dominating possession but not being able to create any noteworthy chances. What possession our opponents did have was thwarted by our defensive line. On 22 minutes, Tre found our new striker Cardinae ‘Booker’ Rennie with an exquisite pass, Booker’s powerful shot from the edge of the box was well saved by the goalkeeper. We continued to enjoy good passages of possession, and we made that possession tell by taking the lead in the 33rd minute when Jaiden Fleming floated a great cross to the far post which was met with a Bullet like header from Denny Derrick giving the keeper no chance!
The remainder of the opening period passed by without too much goalmouth action at either end which meant we went into the break with a deserved 1-0 lead.
Credit must go to our opponents as they started the second half the better of the two sides and they went close when Smeins’ shot went just wide of the target on 47 minutes. However, we soon regained our composure and created our first chance of the second half after a great passage of played ended with Javis Jones’s shot being saved by the feet of the goalkeeper. A minute later we made our first change of the game when new signing Leon Whyle came on for his debut to replace Jaiden Fleming in the middle of midfield.
In the 63rd minute, ‘Booker’ went close to opening his account for the club, but his shot went just over the bar. However, just two minutes later he found the net to mark his debut with a goal. Tre’s pass put the new man clean through on goal and the talented youngster made no mistake by firing the ball past the goalkeeper!
We were now well on top and almost extended our lead when a brilliant passing move culminated with Kemari Gumbs shooting over from a tight angle. Deep into stoppage time, another debutant, Zion Sylvester who had come on earlier for Denny Derrick almost opened his account for the club, but in a crazy goalmouth scramble his shot was cleared off the line.
That was the last action of the game as the referee blew his whistle to signal an excellent 2-0 victory. Our attention now turns to Friday 11th April when we take on 3rd place Attackers knowing that a win will put us just three points behind them!
Uprising Line Up:
18) Shemor Browne (GK), 3) Asharn Hodge, 7) Delani Francis (34, Kenan Lloyd 79), 11) Nathaniel Gumbs, 31) Thierry Amorsinh, 4) Jaiden Fleming (19, Leon Whyle 55) 5) Tre Gumbs, 6) Denny Derrick (13, Zion Sylvester 65) 16) Kemari Gumbs, 29) Javis Jones ( C ), 10) Cardinae Rennie.
Subs Not Used: 2) Joel Orosco, 15) Javan Troin, 20) Fidel Lim-Brooks, 33) Matthew Brown