‘Xtra’ ordinary feat for Vincy Heat

St Vincent and the Grenadines have just over a month to get ready for the next round of the Digicel Caribbean Football Cup. St Vincent and the Grenadines joined eleven other countries in the next phase, which will involve three groups of four.

Vincy Heat have been placed in Group G with Barbados, the Bahamas and Bermuda , to take place in Barbados from November 19-23.{{more}}

The Vincentians bolted their way to the second round of the tournament humbling last year’s champion Jamaica 2-1, to end second best to Haiti from Group D.

St Vincent and the Grenadines lost their opening encounter to Haiti 0-4, but rebounded against the host to record their first win from eight outings.

Vincy Heat then obliterated St Lucia 8-0, with Shandel Samuel knocking in five,with Andrew Douglas, Wesley John and Renson Haynes completing the rout,to end on six points, the same as Haiti and Jamaica.

The Jamaicans beat the Haitians 2-0 last Sunday, but this was not enough as the goal aggregate had the final say.

St Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica had a goal differential of five, but Jamaica tallied seven goals as opposed to Vincy Heat’s ten.

The triumph on the Jamaica sojourn was most welcomed by Technical Director Zoran Vranes, who was on cloud nine last Monday night when the team arrived at the E.T. Joshua Airport.

Full of praise for his charges, Vranes stated, “It was good; I am pleased, it shows that St Vincent and the Grenadines football is up there in the Caribbean region.”

“Our football is well respected in the region than here in St Vincent,” the Serbio Montenegro born Vranes observed.

He was high in praise for his charges, whom he said were “brilliant.”

Vranes singled out his defence as the strong point of his team.

“Everyone was good, Butu (Wesley Charles) was better than last World Cup,” Vranes said.

For the technical director, the player that impacted most was veteran midfielder Kendall Velox.

Vranes rated his long ranged 70th minute goal against Jamaica as one “I have not seen in a long time”.

Velox extended St Vincent and the Grenadines’ lead, following Wesley John’s opener in the 49th minute.

Looking ahead Vranes plans to iron out the kinks in his armoury, with special emphasis on the strikers.

Vranes again appealed for better surfaces for the team to train on. He is hopeful that Victoria Park will be available to his team ahead of the next round.

Group H to be hosted in Guyana from November 24-28, also include the Dominican Republic,Antigua and Barbuda and Guadeloupe, Martinique, Suriname, Haiti, and Cuba battle from November 8-12 in Martinique.

The two top teams from each group as well as the best second place, and host Trinidad and Tobago will go after the US$1200 000.The finals run from January 31 to February 11 next year.