Kashif and Shanghai co-director Kashif Mohammed said yesterday that including Trinidad’s club football team Joe Public, winners of the 2006 Kashif and Shanghai football tournament, had raised the tournament to a higher standard than in previous years.
The resilience and professionalism of the Trinidad champion club resulted in their New Year’s night win over Guyana’s Bakewell Topp XX in the final contested at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground under floodlights and watched by a large and vocal crowd.
Mohammed said despite the loss, Topp XX rose to the occasion.
Joe Public, he pointed out, had two of Topp XX’s regular players Abassi Mc Pherson and Carey Harris (who are on contract to the Trinidadian team) in their line-up. He said the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director, Trinidadian Jamal Shabazz, who also attended the event, identified some talent who he said could try out for the professional league in Trinidad.
Mohammed said Shabazz recognised that some things needed to be improved at the playing venues and the Kashif and Shanghai organization was willing to work with the authorities to improve these conditions.
He said his organisation was discussing issues such as the resurfacing of the playing area and building additional seats with the executive of the Mackenzie Sports Club as “without a doubt we have to improve the seating capacity at the club”.
The visitors’ performance at the game brought back memories of another Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) club, Doc’s Khelawalas, with their win in 1998, in the 17th edition of the Kashif and Shanghai football championship. In a finale fitting an extraordinary tournament, Joe Public’s Gary Glasgow scored the important lone goal of the game four minutes before half-time to nail down the top prize of $800,000 and 25 medals. It all happened before an expectant crowd which had jammed the tournament’s perennial venue and included high profile fans like Opposition Leader Robert Corbin, GFF president Colin Klass, Region Ten Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo and Banks DIH’s Mortimer Stewart.
T&T national player Glasgow, who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the final, was the player to change the course of the event.
As support for the local side grew with every combination of passes and mounted raids by Topp XX, who turned on the heat in front of the capacity crowd, Glasgow delivered the decisive blow when he headed home the winner in the 41st minute.
Recalled national player Collie Hercules led the local team from the front and directed the pace of the game with his every move. Hercules, supported by players Romain Haynes and captain Kayode McKinnon, though having a number of well-directed scoring opportunities, could not better the Trinidadians who were able to withstand the pressure and counter on many occasions though they were often held at bay by the sturdy defence work of Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard and his team-mates.
All the while, the game was fierce and tactical with Topp XX surprising many as they upped the ante against their more accomplished rivals. The stakes picked up when persons put up an offer of $50,000 to see the first goal scored by Topp XX, but this was not to be. One of the many close shaves came in the first half with Hercules getting a clear chance against the goalkeeper, but was cut off by Joe Public’s Colombian goalkeeper Alexandro Figueroa bravely coming off his line in time. Topp XX seized a few other goal-scoring opportunities but were unable to penetrate Figueroa’s defence. As the game headed towards a nil all score in the first half, the local team’s defence was caught favouring the left flank where the Trinidadians had made their move but the ball was changed to the right where Glasgow, with a glancing head-shot, beat Richard Reynolds to bring an end to the first half of the game with a 1-0 lead for Joe Public.
This pattern of play continued with Topp XX looking very much in the game but being unable to change the outcome.
The Trinidadians conquering the local team meant that they won the Curtis Chance trophy. They also denied the Guyanese a chance at a sixth win and a chance to keep the trophy. Pollard was voted the Best Defence Player and Reynolds Most Outstanding Goalkeeper. Lyndon Andrews, a former Trinidad national player walked away with the Most Valuable Player of the tournament prize and Best Midfielder award. Topp XX’s Kurt Murphy was also recognised for the Most Spectacular Goal.
In the third place playoffs Jamaicans Alpha United defeated the CariAir Western Tigers 6-0. Jamaican Oneke Forde started the assault and finished with a hat-trick (27th, 61st and 70th minutes) as Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams, 32nd, Walter Moore 67th and Anthony Harding, 86th completed the rout and walked away with $250,000. The Tigers collected $150,000. The score was 2-0 at half time. Forde and Abrams were joint top scorers of the tournament with four goals each. Abrams also registered the fastest goal in just 33 seconds when his team played Santos in the quarter-final fixture on Christmas Day.
