Cougars, Town in New Year battle
Old foes renew acquaintances at the National Sports Centre (NSC) when Dandy Town and Devonshire Cougars vie for the Friendship Trophy tomorrow.The two clubs have many similarities, both in style of play and willingness to push the envelope for success when things aren’t going in their favour.And both have take the same approach with their squad selection given the depth in both sides’ ranks.For all the meddling around with bringing in fringe players to show their worth, Cougars skipper Chris Caisey is adamant his side will go all out to win the first piece of silverware for the year.“On paper both sides are even so it will come down to who executes on the day and makes the least amount of mistakes,” said Caisey.“Every team goes out to win the games they play in, regardless if it is a friendly or a cup final, but we have no choice to take it as it is and the chips will fall where they must.”In the second of two semi-finals, Cougars fell behind due to complacency after seemingly having the game won at 2-1 and up a man over Southampton Rangers.Substitute Che Brangman leaped off the bench to score a brace, while Drewonde Bascome helped make the result official after Lovtintz Tota levelled matters midway through the second half.Caisey also believes that his side don’t fall into the same category of the other clubs in Bermuda when they face off against Dandy Town, with the name alone putting teams on the back foot heading into games.Rather than wonder how to go about the task, the club look forward to matches like this to prove which is the better side after the final whistle.“We know they have a good team and a good coach but we as also have a good team and a good coach and in talking to most of my team-mates they are relishing playing against Town again, so I predict a good game and may the best team win comes New Year’s Day.“Our last game we slowed down a bit when on top of the opponents and we have to learn that just because a side is down a man or we are winning that they aren’t trying to get something out of the game.“Each game has to be take on its merit and this game will be like no other, so it will be interesting to see who wins the match come the final whistle.”In Town’s semi-final match against Somerset Trojans, it was left up to one of the two sides to make a mistake that would settle matters in what was an evenly poised game at Wellington Oval.It would be Jameko Harvey-Outerbridge who would be the villain after his back pass gifted Angelo Simmons chance that would win the match for the city side.Hornets coach Jomar Wilkinson was pleased with the performance on that day, but noted that his side weren’t up to their normal high standard given the shuffling he had done to his pack throughout the Christmas period.He also wouldn’t reveal his plans for tomorrow.“Their mistake was the difference in the two teams and who would go on, but we always knew that pressure is key to a game like this and we were ready to pounce on the mistake.“It was a good result for us in terms of getting the commitment and dedication from the side as a unit and we got through it together as a team,” he said. “There were times that we didn’t play our best but we still knew we could win the match and go to the final.“We have depth so it is good to have those players who don’t always play still coming out and putting in the hard work to show that they can be valuable.“They have shown that they can do a job if given the chance so we will see how we set up for the final on the day.”The Friendship Trophy is scheduled for 4pm at the NSC, following the Shield final at 2.00pm and PDL final at 12.00.
