Miscellaneous Laventille United have captured silverware after finishing winners of the 2018 Northern Football Association Premier Division.
Laventille topped the eight-team table with 34 points from their 14 league matches, finishing five points clear of second placed Cantaro United with Patna/River Estate FC finishing third with 24 points.
Their first place finish automatically put Laventille United through to the Champions of Champions qualifiers where they will compete against the winners of the other regional associations for two spots in the Trinidad and Tobago Super League that are up for grabs.
Under head coach Cedric Hazelwood, Laventile maintained solid form throughout the season, winning eleven matches and losing only two during their campaign. Kareem Charles was the club’s top marksman with 19 goals during the season. He was ably supported by the likes of defender Brad Clifton, Kester Hewitt, Michael John and goalkeeper Rodney Stowe among the rest of the squad. Among their results were an 8-1 victory over Malvern and a 3-1 win over RSSR in October as well as a 2-0 and 2-1 wins over Cantaro and Belmont in November. They also whipped Paramin 7-3 last month with Charles notching a hattrick.
This season has been our most successful to date and we’re far from finished because we are eyeing qualification into the National Super League,” Hazelwood said. “I must pay homage to our club owner Mr Sham Mohammed and the Miscellaneous Group for staying true to word and supporting us throughout the season. The club was provided with the necessary resources to really improve our showing this season and the players responded by producing the match-winning performances the eventually brought us the title,” he added.
Laventille United also came in for praise from former national team midfielder and Under 20 head coach Russell Latapy who paid a visit to the club earlier this year at one of their matches at Sogren Trace.
“I’m delighted for the Miscellaneous Laventille United team and really proud to see the boys come out on top this season. I know they showed promise from last season and I was encouraged to see the way they were going about things when I saw them earlier in the year,” Latapy said. “Seeing their enthusiasm and love for the sport reminded me of my time playing in Laventille as a youngster and I think their successful season is a very positive development for the Laventille community. The journey continues and they will have maintain their drive and passion as they go in search of further achievements as a club,” Latapy added.
Former Trinidad and Tobago World Cup midfielder Densill Theobald, who addressed the players at their 2017 End of Season Awards ceremony last December, also offered some glowing words to the team.
“I think it’s a remarkable effort by the Laventille United team to in a sense defy the odds and finish on top of the league. In these times a lot of clubs are facing challenges and it can be discouraging but for them to come through a full season, winning eleven matches and now with a chance to move up to the Super League, shows strong character and organization. I think this a great bit of news for Laventille on a whole to have a club winning the Premier Division in the North Zone,” Theobald said. “These guys are a shining light for Laventille right now.”
SOURCE: misc-int.com