In 2003 when the League played its season at Columbus HS while Evander Childs was under repair to install the current playing surface, Unity was one of the eight playoff teams. Since then positive results were hard to come by. In 2006 the team won once. Since then Unity endured 22 straight losses.
This past weekend that losing streak ended with a spirited nil all draw with South Stars in Saturday’s feature. Here was a South Stars unit coming off a season opening 6-2 win over Uniondale and subsequently bolstered by BNYISL notables Bruce Tulloch and Michael “Blacks” Bailey, championship winners with Kandia, and Chris “Za Za” Richards, erstwhile of Baldwin versus the 0-2 Unity, including a loss to Uniondale. While South Stars had more of the play, they hardly looked capable of pulling off the victory due to their inability to test the resolve of goalkeeper Lawson as for the most part they were gun shy.
Ditto for Unity at the other end. Still, in the last five minutes of the game, if there was going to be a winner it seemed more likely it would be Unity especially in the last minute when a melee in front of the South Stars goal saw a desperate clear off the line sparing South Stars the ignomy of losing to Unity. So intriguing was the game that the rainsoaked spectators refused to leave with rain falling intermittently.
The day began with Arantes making it 3 in a row with a resounding 5-0 win over new team Mosholu. It was also 3 in a row, albeit losses, for Mosholu. Once Omar Allen opened the scoring, the result was hardly in doubt, especially after Zaheer Bell made it 2-0 just before the break. Bell and Allen added one a piece in the second half before Akeeba “Peas Head” Marshall completed the rout and a miserable time for goalkeeper Errol Catnott. However the final few minutes of the game saw Maurice Evans in the Arantes goal the busier of the two keepers as Mosholu, suffering their second straight 5-goal blush, were in their pursuit of their first league goal.
Teaneck continued their good form with a 4-2 win over Negus to improve their record to 2 wins against one loss. Strangely, all three games have ended in 4-2 scores. Sons of Negus had the earlier chances on goal and could easily have been leading early. Instead it was Teaneck who took the lead against the run of play through Rohan McDonald. Negus found themselves down 2-0 at the half after giving up a penalty which Orville Lawrence converted.
Freddy Opute’s early second half goal pulled Negus back in the game. However, Jarrod Michael converted a cross, timing the skidding ball beautifully to steer in the net for a 3-1 score before a red card to Denton McKoy at the hour mark reduced Teaneck to 10 men and giving Negus a glimmer of hope. But Adrian Porter’s cardinal foul in the penalty box gifted Lawrence a second goal from the spot. Abdul Caulker made it 4-2 but by then it was clear there would not be a successful Negus comeback.
Like Saturday, Sunday’s matches all experienced rain showers but that didn’t put a damper on proceedings on the field. Instead some upsets were in the making. Selassie entered their match with Youth Uprising on a 2-game winning streak while Youth Uprising had lost two games in a row. In fact both teams were engaged in an action packed Friday doubleheader which began with Havoc’s 2-1 win over Youth Uprising.
Kevin Gray executed a clinical finish to put Havoc up 1-0 and justify coach Hinds’ decision to start the ex-pro in the lower British leagues. Kwei Mills made it 2-0 before Jamar Watson pulled one back for Youth Uprising and justify the closeness of the score and the game. The feature was just as close although the 4-1 win for Selassie over Kandia told a different tale. Kandia had four glorious chances to score before Selassie had a shot on goal. Still Selassie took the lead through Don “Little Nicky” Smart who was on the back post to convert one of Rasi McKenzie’s patented long throws.
The second half saw the action swinging from end to end but Selassie it was who utilized their chances at goal and eventually found the net three more times through Smart, Sikele Sylvester and Junior Morris. Kandia’s lone reply was a penalty conversion by Brian Wollaston.
Wollaston upped his tally to three on the weekend after converting twice in Kandia’s unimpressive 3-0 win over Upsetters. Within 10 minutes he was on the score sheet with a close tap in from a low square cross. He was dragged down by a defender 15 minutes later and he got up and literally rolled a pass as the goalie dived in the wrong direction. Ricardo Geddes, after several misses Friday night and earlier in the day, finally came good with a low skidder from 20 yards out. But that was about all from Kandia which played a very poor and ragged second half, even giving up several freekicks just outside the box. But all ended up ricocheting off defenders.
Might be that the effort on Friday took its toll on Kandia. However, Selassie seemed to be more spent of the three teams that played Friday and Sunday. Winning two straight against a team with two losses, Selassie were expected to continue their winning ways. But the unpredictable Youth Uprising had other ideas. In fact they took the lead through Jamar Watson. Meanwhile Selassie seemed a step slower than Friday. But they turned up the effort late on while Youth Uprising, with their usual thin bench, were just about to hang on for the victory. Or so it seemed, until a stroke of good fortune came Selassie’s way. Selassie gained a free kick from 30 yards and the resulting hard but wayward shot took a wicked deflection to wrong foot Andre Wilkinson in goal and earned Selassie the equalizer. Wilkinson had did little wrong all day and proved a thorn in Selassie’s efforts.
The night cap also seemed to have an upset in the making when Nicholas Lynch scored 5 minutes into the second half to pull Uniondale level with Carib U. But then Carib U’s class shone through as they eventually strolled out 4-1 winners with Greg Nation, Kenardo Mitchell, Omar Bygrave and Hutch Howell scoring for last year’s beaten finalists.
Weekly wrap June 13-14, 2009
Week two of the 2009 season of the BNYISL season concluded last weekend with some epic and exciting conclusions. However, form held true. On Saturday Havoc were defeated by Selassie 1-0; Upsetters defeated Mosholu 5-0 and 214th Street outlasted Sons of Negus 3-1. On Sunday Arantes held on for a 2-1 win over Youth Uprising, as did Uniondale over Unity, while Caribbean United defeated Teaneck 4-2.
In the feature match of the weekend, Carib U outlasted a stubborn Teaneck Strikers 4-2. But the result could have been oh so different had the Jersey boys converted their early chances which mostly fell to Jarrod Carmichael who didn’t acquit himself as a potent striker, which could easily have turned the game in their favor. Included in those misses was an open chance on goal with goalie Marcus Maurice sprawled on the ground leaving a gaping goal ready to be breached. But the chance clanged off the near post.
Still, the chances came fast and furious all game and it was no surprise that both teams were deadlocked at 2 a piece at the half. A defender’s goal and Greg Nation had given Carib U 1-0 and 2-1 leads but strikes by Leon Logan and Norval “Banana” James ensured half time parity. A week earlier, James scored twice in Teaneck’s 4-2 win over Unity. Carib U gave up the equalizer soon after reduced to 10 players after no nonsense defender Ryan “Yabba” Smith earned his exit after a last man foul
The second half was just as pulsating but it was Carib U, staring at the possibility of losing two straight at the start of the season for the first time this millennium, which pulled off the victory aided by Kevin Lee’s goal which made it 3-2. Of course, hard tackling Andre Campbell exiting after two yellow cards, did little to help the Jersey boys who gave up the fourth goal two minutes from time.
Earlier Uniondale outlasted Unity 2-1 in another entertaining encounter. Coming in, several pundits figured this would be a glorious chance for Unity to end their 20-game losing streak considering their spirited effort in a losing cause to Teaneck and the surprise capitulation of the Long Islanders in a 6-2 dismantling by South Stars during opening week. A year earlier Uniondale edged Unity by one goal and since then several key players have departed, including prolific scorer Greg Nation. On the other hand, Unity have bolstered their ranks including re-signing Paul “Zidane” Edwards, back home after spending the last two seasons with Kandia.
However, it was Uniondale, now under the reigns of Sam Wright who have succeeded Bibi Carter at the helm, which delivered the first blow through a Dennis Thomas goal. Unity found themselves staring at a 2-0 deficit after midfielder Qiucetal Stewart knocked the ball into his own net. Dependable Steve Greenwood took advantage of lax defending to pull one back. But the equalizer could not come thus condemning Unity to their 21st straight loss spanning the 2006 season till the present.
The afternoon began with Arantes scoring in the first fifteen seconds against Youth Uprising with Easton Wilson steaming in the convert from almost the goal line. Wilson, lucky to escape a straight red after maliciously clattering a defender’s shin in the second half with the ball no where close by, gave his team a 2-0 cushion. But the cushion could have been much more but for a catalog of misses which, truth be told, flattered Youth Uprising. And when Worrel Watt converted for the Bajans in the 85th minute, hope sprang, albeit ephemeral, unlike the proverbially suggested eternal. Arantes were winning their second straight after defeating Upsetters 3-0 on opening weekend.
On Saturday Upsetters clobbered Mosholu 5-0. New team Mosholu acquitted themselves on opening weekend in a 1-0 loss to Havoc and so a much closer game was expected to be in the offing. Instead they found themselves down 3-0 by half time. Mosholu’s woes began when a defender inadvertently put one into his own goal. Troy Ingram then made it 2 love before Howard “Zidane” Benjamin completed the first half scoring. Mosholu were no better in the second half as Benjamin’s second and Winston Shippie completed the rout.
The day’s menu began with a Selassie 1-0 win over Havoc in a match with kept the fans on their toes throughout. It wasn’t until 15 minutes into the second half that Selassie breached Havoc’s stubborn defense. And it came from the boots of big defender Tony Campbell, erstwhile of Midlanders. The match was supposed to be Selassie’s second since they last entered the league eight seasons ago, except persistent rain the week before Friday washed away their encounter with Kandia. That was the league’s first rain out in more than 4 years. However that game will be made up this Friday as part of a double header which kicks off at 7pm and which also features Havoc and Youth Uprising.
But back to the Selassie win over Havoc. A 1-0 win would suggest a tame offensive encounter with titanic defensive battles the order of the day. Au contraire, as both teams went at each other’s throats with the victor being the last one standing. But it could have been very different if Havoc had converted their many chances. Instead the only conversion was from the boots of Campbell who pounced unto a rebound and rammed a 20 yarder into the pigeon giving the goalkeeper no chance.
Just as exciting was the evening’s feature, which saw Sons of Negus losing in their return after a 2-year hiatus. Moses Watkiss put 214th Street on their path to their second straight victory. Jermaine Russell’s 30 yard strike, which made it 2-0, warmed the loins of the many rain soaked fans for its sheer beauty and at least temporarily put the host of missed chances into oblivion. Conrad Hunte made it 3-0 to ensure 214th Street would end the weekend as the league’s highest scoring team. However a late Negus strike prevented the shut out.
Week three will see a total of eight games with a double header on Friday evening beginning at 7pm. Saturday and Sunday features the regular menu of three games with each day’s activities beginning at 3pm.
