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Press Release From Independent Source

VI’s Old Madrid Masters start strong, come-up short in St. Martin

Photo of VI's Old Madrid Masters football team was taken in Saint Martin over the weekend where they participated in a football tournament in St. Martin. Photo: Provided
MARIGOT, St. Martin- The Old Madrid Masters F.C., representing the BVI for the 6th straight year at a regional Masters Football tournament and the second one for this year, made it to the semi-finals of the 2012 annual Veterans FC Masters Tournament this past weekend in Saint Martin, Frech West Indies, but came-up short against the eventual winners Saint Louis Masters FC in a tough 1-0 loss resulting in a 4th place finish.

The 2011 defending Champions of this tournament started strong with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Anguilla Masters FC. Dion “Ragga” Clarke opened the score for the BVI with a well-placed shot after a typical hustle play from him, and Humphry Leue added two brilliant goals to seal the victory, the first being a top-class shot from long range out of the Anguillan goalkeeper’s reach, and the second one a deft volley off-of a lovely cross from Kenmore “Silk” Peters.

The BVI’s next match was against arch-rivals Retroactive Masters FC of St. Croix, USVI in what turned out to be an entertaining goal-fest with Retroactive dominating the first half and Old Madrid controlling the second half. In the end, the St. Croix team edged-out Old Madrid by 4-3.

Peters scored first for Old Madrid with a long-distance shot that was too hot for Retroactive’s goalie to handle, and team captain Garnett “Duba” Ferron added two goals in the second half, both skillful finishing touches from close range. But the Retroactive defense tightened-up in the final minutes, preventing the men from the BVI to even the score.

Old Madrid then faced the hosts Veterans FC in the final and deciding match of Group A. After an evenly-matched and competitive game, the score ended in a 1-1 draw with Ferron scoring the lone goal for the BVI, a nice header from a corner kick by Leue.

Both teams had earned 4 points from their three Group matches but, by virtue of a better goal average, Old Madrid ended in second place of the Group and advanced to the semi-final match against local favorites Saint Louis Masters who had won Group B.

The semi-final match was also very competitive with both teams having scoring chances; the first and best opportunity came for the BVI’s team when Clarke was tackled and fouled inside the penalty area and the referee correctly awarded a penalty kick.

Unfortunately, however, Ferron missed the penalty and the first-half ended in a scoreless draw. It was not until the last minute of the match, in fact with only 15 seconds to go in regulation, that Saint Louis scored the goal that broke the BVI’s back and propelled the Frenchmen to the championship match, which they would eventually win over Le Blue Masters FC, another team from Saint Martin who had surprisingly defeated Retroactive St. Croix in the other semi-final. Old Madrid then conceded 3rd place by virtue of a penalty kick shootout ending in a score of 3-2 in favour of Retroactive.

Since 2007, Old Madrid FC, the BVI’s only Masters-level (Age 40+) football club, has played in about a dozen regional Masters tournaments, in Antigua, St. Croix , St. Kitts and St. Martin, winning the championship three times, coming in second twice and making it to the semi-finals 3 other times.

After the tournament, Captain Ferron commented: “It was another strong performance by our team, notwithstanding the tough loss in the end for which I take partial responsibility with that missed penalty. I am proud of the guys. We were in a very competitive Group, worked hard and did well to advance to the semi-finals. Even though we did not accomplish our goal of repeating as Champions here, we can say with confidence that we represented the BVI well as usual.”

Vice-Captain Leue added: “Having performed consistently well at several regional tournaments over the past few years, our next goal is to host a Masters Football tournament right here at home. We have developed strong ties with many of the teams that also regularly play in these tournaments, particularly those from St. Croix, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Thomas and now also Anguilla, and all of them have expressed a strong interest and desire to come to the BVI. Stay tuned for more on that.”

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