Dennery and Soufriere are the finalists in this season’s Blackheart Knockout Football (BKF), following some fiery semi-final action, last Saturday, at the Soufriere Mini Stadium.
In the first match of the double-header feature, Dennery got past their easterly coast neigbours Mabouya Valley 2-1 in a keenly contested encounter to advance to the finals.
Dennery utilized their offensive prowess to assert their superiority in the game and out play their opponents in a spell-binding sporting rivalry atmosphere at the westerly coast town.
Soufriere triumphed over La Clery 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after the match was locked at 3-3 at regulation time. It was a nail-biting affair between two formidable teams that had played expressively in the qualifiers and preliminary round stages of the tournament.
And indeed, they did go at each other from the first whistle.
Wendel Joseph put the home team ahead in the sixth minute, but shortly after Yannick Noel converted the equalizer for La Clery.
Soufriere surged ahead through Zadel Dezusay in the 17th minute but La Clery was back in play when Andrus Remy netted in the 21st Minute.
The match continued with much intensity and turned into a ‘roller coaster’ affair as William Cenac gave his team the advantage to go up 3-2. But Remy had other ideas and converted again in the 63rd minute for a brace to provide his team with the zest for taking on the west coast side, playing confidently in front of their home fans.
However, strong contention from opposing sides for that goal advantage did not materialize and after regulation time and added-on time the match would have to decided by the ‘dreaded’ penalty-shootout tussle.
In that decisive moment, Soufriere converted its first five allotted penalty kicks; while La Clery scored four and missed out on the 5th shot.
The home team welcomed the victory and the fans went up in uproar to savour the moment, as Soufriere qualified for the BKF finals and a shot at the championship title for the second time.
Soufriere previously made it to the BKF finals in 2012 versus Dennery, and will be seeking better results this time.
Dennery has won the BKF title multiple times including the only team to have accomplished a ‘three-peat’ – meaning three consecutive BKF titles in earlier times.
