Fighting Spirit on Display in Knockout Cup Exit
On Wednesday 16th July, we took to the field at REGTC to take on the newly crowned Anguilla Football League and Super 4’s Champions, Roaring Lions in the Semi-Finals of the AFL Knockout Cup. We knew we were in for a tough encounter against a good side, but we also knew we could cause them problems having ran them so close in the recent 4-2 defeat in the Super 4’s!
Our opponents started on the front foot, and it is fair to say that they dominated possession in the opening exchanges, but without really creating any goal scoring opportunities thanks to our tireless work rate and discipline in defence.
We slowly began to get into the game in terms of an attacking force and in the 20th minute we had our first effort on goal, a long-range free kick by Jordan Deans which went straight at the Lions goalkeeper.
In the 28th minute Lions created a good chance for themselves, but our goalkeeper Shemor Browne was equal to the task. Shemor was called into action again two minutes later and this time thwarted our opponents by bravely diving at the feet of their striker! In a frenetic spell, we then went up the other end of the field with Jordan trying to prod the ball home after a fumble by the goalkeeper, unfortunately there was just too much traffic between the goal and Jordan, and his effort was cleared from danger.
The best moment of the half came for us on 38 minutes when our centre back, Thierry Amorsinh, who was excellent throughout the 90 minutes, beat two men before shooting at goal from 30 yards out. A fantastic shot which was met by a great save by the Lions goalkeeper who tipped the ball over the bar! The resulting corner saw Leon Whyle go close with a header which again was saved!
Half-Time: 0-0
The second half began with us defending stoutly against some early Lions pressure, and after getting through a tricky few minutes we had our first effort of the half when the impressive Cardinae Rennie fashioned a chance for himself, shooting powerfully from distance which forced a good save!
On 56 minutes Lions took the lead through what must be said was an excellent free kick by Christon Williams! The Lions player curled the ball over our wall from 20 yards and into the top corner giving Shemor little chance of saving! A few moments later, Leon tried his luck from range, but his shot went straight at the keeper then we had Shemor to thank again for keeping us in the game with another brilliant save.
There was Jubilation on 64 minutes when we got the equaliser! Kemari Gumbs produced some great work in the middle of the park by beating his marker and threading a delightful through ball to Cardinae. ‘Booker’ hit the ball first time without breaking his stride and found the bottom right corner of the goal with an excellently placed finish from outside the box! Wild scenes of celebration followed both on the pitch and no doubt in our supporters’ living rooms around the world!
A quiet five minutes followed our goal before Lions regained the lead when Germain Hughes found the net from close range after we were unable to clear ball delivered into our penalty area.
Try as we might, we just could not get a second equaliser meaning the score remained the same and we were eliminated from the Knockout Cup!
Uprising Line Up:
18) Shemor Browne, 3) Asharn Hodge, 19) Leon Whyle, 31) Thierry Amorsinh, 34) Kenan Lloyd, 4) Jaiden Fleming, 11) Jordan Deans, 14) Dajaun Jacobs, 16) Kemari Gumbs, 24) Javis Jones ( c ), 10) Cardinae Rennie
Subs: 7) Delani Francis, 6) Denny Derrick, 8) Matthew Brown, 27) Adrian Smith