Bodden Town FC crowned league champions

Bodden Town Football Club left the Annex (17 August) Sunday night as the 2019-2020 Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) Men’s League champions after beating East End 3-0.

The Bodden Towners got off to a slow start, finishing the first half nil-all. However, in the second half Bodden Town’s Dexter Monroe found the back of the net with a cheeky trick shot, putting his team 1-0 in the 48^th minute.

Ricoh Brown made his contributions after firing a free kick pass the goalie in the 63rd minute. That was followed by a goal from teammate Christopher Avila in 73^rd minute to close the game 3-0. Fans were not allowed in the stadium but their cheers from outside echoed throughout the Annex.

“It’s a great feeling to finally win this title that we’ve been working so hard for,” said Bodden Town’s assistant coach Ramon Sealy.

After the game, CIFA president Alfredo Whittaker gave a short speech congratulating the Bodden Towners on historic victory. Bodden Town MLA Dwayne Seymour was also in attendance and presented the league trophy to his hometown team.

“I’m glad to see that Bodden Town came out the victors after all the troubles this season,” said Seymour. One of those troubles the team encountered came back in February when a referee was assaulted by one of their players.

“I hope that they put this behind them, move forward and embrace the new season ahead,” Seymour added.

While Bodden Town has proven to be an aggressive team at times, it doesn’t take away from the talented squads coach Elbert McLean has assembled over the years. In fact, Bodden Town has won 4 league titles within the last decade and loss to Scholars in the 2018-2019 season on goal deferential.

“We had plenty guys training over the last month and the fitness our team. You obviously saw that in the second half,” said Mclean. “I take my hat off to East End, I give them full credit. Overall it was a good game, and I am very satisfied with the win over East End.”

If Bodden Town loss their match against East End Sunday night, Scholars would have claimed the title on goal deferential for the second season in a row after being victories against Sunset 3-0 at Ed Bush that night.

In other games on the day, Elite finished third in the league despite losing to George Town 2-1. That match saw one of George Town’s players taken away by an ambulance for an unofficial broken foot.

Academy drew with Latinos 1-1 in what was a highly competitive match. Latinos’ Clarence Kelly scored the first goal of the game in the 30th minute but just before halftime, Academy’s Trey Ebanks answered back with a goal in the 44th minute. In the second half, both teams kept their back lines locked, with neither team conceding goals, ending the game 1-1.

As for Bodden Town, not only did earn the league title but they also earned best defensive team for the season and most clean sheets among other titles.

They will have the opportunity to represent the Cayman Islands at the Concacaf Caribbean Shield. The dates for that tournament has not been announced due to the uncertainty of the current pandemic.

The 2020-2021 CIFA season is schedule to begin mid next month (September).