Undisputed champions! Elite women get trifecta

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 8 April 2017

Elite Sports Club’s women’s team completed their dream season when they won the FA Cup on 8 April, beating Sunset Football Club 3-0 in the final.

With neither side able to press their dominance after half an hour of play at the Annex, that changed when Elite was awarded a free kick from about 35 yards out on the left wing. Defender Tyanna Jan stepped up and sailed the ball toward the goal and into the top left corner with stand-in Sunset keeper Megan Ehman unable to get a glove to it.

Drawn up to plan or lucky strike? “It was not exactly intentional,” said Jan. “When I walked up to take the kick, Judy Rivers said to me ‘go for goal’. I thought usually I do have a big kick, so in the back of my mind, I said I’d try it because if it goes in, amazing. If the keeper got it, at least I would have tested her. She doesn’t usually play in goal, so why not.”

Nothing beats a failure but a try. 1-0 to Elite, a score that remained into the second half. Despite energetic play from Elena Testori and Martha Hall, Sunset couldn’t find the equalizer.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, a goal would come, however. Elite pounced on a counter-attack that ended when Tamoy Phillips knocked her shot toward the far post. In the 80^th minute, a superb run by midfielder Shenel Gall set up another goal by Phillips to put the game out of reach with 10 minutes left.

: Tamoy Phillips celebrates a goal.

: Tyanna Jan reacts to her goal.

: Martha Hall played her heart out.

: Shanelle Bennett came on as a sub

The win capped an amazing season for the women of Elite and provided them with their third piece of hardware. In addition to hoisting the FA Cup, they were also presented with the trophy for winning the CIFA Women’s League. They won the CIFA President’s Cup earlier in the season. As with Saturday night, Sunset were runners-up on both occasions.

“It feels great. It’s a tremendous achievement for the club, and most importantly, the players came out with a plan and executed a plan,” said head coach and club president, Martha Godet.

In addition to her goal, Jan was solid as a centre back – the standout of solid overall performances by Elite players on the night, thwarting multiple Sunset attacks even if she wasn’t overly impressed with her own performance. “I didn’t have my best game but I felt I did my part to help pull us through.”

Elite players were ecstatic with their feat.

Meantime, Sunset head coach Alan Purvis was gracious in defeat. “It was a tough game. We knew we were going to struggle from the beginning we had a couple of players out – our goalkeeper was one. We had a young girl in goal tonight. I can’t fault her. She tried her best.”

He also found positives to take away from the loss. “The good thing for my team was we actually put in a lot more effort than we have during the course of the season. Although it’s disappointing to lose, I’m actually happy with the effort, the work rate and the commitment from the girls,” he said in a post-game interview with CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

Purvis credited Elite’s hard work and training throughout the season, saying they deserved the success they achieved in the 2016-17 campaign. It’s the first season that Sunset women have not won the league in the past five years and the coach knows all good things must come to an end.

“We’re not entitled to win anything. We’ve had a good run over the last few years. It’s somebody else’s turn this year but the girls know what it takes to win this stuff but we didn’t have it this year, so we have to battle back next year,” he said.

While they savour the taste of success, Elite’s players will still be called upon to train weekly during the offseason, so they don’t lose their form. “Hopefully, we take the momentum into the new season. It’s a great achievement, they worked really hard for it,” said Godet, who was especially thankful for her many young players, who she said were an important part of the team’s run.

: Sunset FC starters

: Elite SC starters

FA Cup Final starters:

Sunset FC: Elena Testori (capt.), Britnni Ebanks, Megan Ehman (GK), Jayme Farrel, Martha Hall, Brianna Hydes, Rai Kalpana, Derricka Neysmith, Justina Range, Lauren Scott, and Krishan Welcome.

Elite SC: Shanice Monteith (capt.), Jesika Ebanks, Marlena Elwin, Shanelle Frederick (GK), Shenel Gall, Tyanna Jan, Amy Mobley, Tamoy Phillips, Brianna Poy-Fong, Showvon Ramos, and Judy Rivers.