Nevis Places Fourth in Keithly Sheppard Tourney

Team Manager Alex Claxton

ZIZ Sports…June 7 2012 — Alex Claxton, Manager of the Nevis under 15 Football team that participated in the 9th annual Keithly Sheppard under 15 youth soccer tournament, has reported that his team performed exceptionally well despite the overall placement.

The tournament was played in Antigua last weekend but according to Claxton, there was a major disappointment for the young players when it was discovered that the other visiting teams had failed to show for various reasons ranging from financial issues to students being involved in exams.

However, host Antigua and Barbuda provided five teams, making it a total of six competing teams.

Claxton also believes that the hectic schedule of matches had a serious impact on the players as their scheduled first match originally set for Friday evening had to be postponed due to a lighting problem at the grounds. It meant therefore that his young players were forced to play all of three matches the following day, Saturday. ‘By the third game, which they played against the eventual champion team, Villa Lions, it was obvious that they were already jaded,’ he said.

However, he felt that the players gave it their best and eventually copped fourth place and the ‘Fair play’ trophy.

Here is a breakdown of matches played:

Saturday 2nd June—

Nevis nil v Forth Road nil

Nevis 1 v Sweets nil—Javani Tyson the goal scorer

Villa Lions 2 v Nevis nil

Sunday 3rd June—

Nevis 2 v Antigua and Barbuda under 14 team 2—Richie Lucius and Tiyauni Carey the goal scorers

Grace Green 3 Nevis 1—Grace Green scored an own goal

Claxton noted that in his opinion, Tiyauni Carey was Nevis’ most outstanding player for the tournament but indicated that Captain Shakir Claxton, Javani Tyson, Richie Lucius and goal keeper Ravelite Tavares, also turned some heads with their outstanding play. As a matter of fact, a team by the name of BARACUTA has started negotiations to get young goalie Tavares to play for them.

Here are the overall tournament statistics:

Villa Lions-Champions

Antigua and Barbuda under 14 team—2nd

Grace Green—3rd

Nevis—4th

Forth Road—5th

Sweets—6th

Most valuable goal keeper—Leon Nedd of the under 14 team

Best defender—Shawn Phillip of Villa Lions

Best midfield player—Akelo Andre

Coach of the tournament—Sowerby Gomes

Fair play trophy—Nevis

Most valuable player—Javern Stevens—under 14 team