Rendezvous FC will not be cutting any slack in this year’s Digicel-sponsored Barbados Football Association’s Premier League season and they reinforced that message through a 5-0 drubbing of Pride of Gall Hill at the National Stadium last night.
Also featured yesterday evening in the opening round match was last year’s winner Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) who drew 1-1 with the University of the West Indies. While in the other game Brittons Hill won 1-0 over a very young Notre Dame side.
Rendezvous who got promoted to this year’s Premier League competition got their campaign off to a fantastic start in front of a large crowd of at least 1 500 spectators. There were many Rendezvous fans in the stands and the players gave them exactly what they came to see through the Samuel brothers, Shandel and Miron. Romano Snagg opened the score in the 22nd minute of play when he dribbled the ball easily past a defender, and then squeezed a shot past Gall Hill goalkeeper Corey Bridgeman.
Shandel Samuel (left) had a great start to the season with three goals for Rendevous. (Picture by Morissa Lindsay).
In the 41st minute the Samuel brothers’ onslaught began through striker Shandel who made it 2-0 when the ball was chipped over the top and Samuel controlled it well and kicked the ball into the back of the nets to end the first half with Rendezvous in complete control.
The second half was no different as the boys from Christ Church stamped their authority once again through their Shandel who received the ball at the top of the box and curled it beautifully past Bridgeman to score just seven minutes into the second half.
Rendezvous were definitely having a great time intimidating the Gall Hill defenders and causing them nightmares. So it came as no surprise when the Vincentian-born Miron was brought down inside the box. Things just went from bad to worse for Gall Hill when Miron himself stepped up to take the penalty kick and scored.
Rendezvous’ style of play was very fast and their defending was on the ball. Gall Hill simply had no answers for them. Shandel then made it 5-0 with the help of his brother Miron who dribbled a few defenders and Shandel was there lurking right in front the goal bar to receive the pass and buried the ball into the back of the nets.
The first encounter of the day got off to a slow start with ball possession being shared between BDFSP and UWI. They went into the half-time break locked at 0-0. Action picked up markedly in the second half when UWI striker Rico Holder received a right-sided free kick in the 62nd minute inside the box and an attempt was made by the BDFSP defenders to clear the ball which ended up on the boot of Holder who controlled it nicely and scored to the right of BDFSP’s goalkeeper Dario Weir, the national goalkeeper.
That goal however was quickly cancelled out when BDFSP earned themselves a penalty kick after they won a corner and the ball was kicked in and handled in the area. Raheim Sargeant stepped up and made it 1-1 with a blast past UWI goalkeeper Tazieo Riley.
In the second game played Brittons Hill managed to defeat Notre Dame 1-0 thanks to a 75th minute effort from Dwayne Stanford with a superb free kick 25 yards outside the box. Two of Notre Dame’s players received red cards including veteran John “Nobby” Parris coming on for the last five minutes of play.