TRINIDAD AND Tobago striker Rundell Winchester was delighted having scored the winning goal on Friday evening, in Central FC’s 2-1 win over Defence Force in the final of the First Citizens Cup at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Winchester hit a left-footed strike in the 87th minute to guarantee the first title for the 15-month-old club.
“It feels so good,” said the teenager. “It’s a great achievement, knowing where I’ve come from (referring to his hometown of Plymouth). To actually come out and score the winning goal, it’s a great experience. I just feels so happy.”
Winchester had an indifferent game until scoring the winning goal, which saw him take home the trophy as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
“We started off kind of slow and I wasn’t into the game. (During the half- time interval) we had a team talk and we just (went) out there and worked hard.”
Winchester made his national debut last Tuesday in the 0-0 draw, at the Mucurapo venue, against New Zealand.
“It felt so good,” he said. “I didn’t expect to wear the national colours at the age of 19. It’s an honour wearing the national colours. It’s been a great experience.”
Defence Force Ross Russell was understandably disappointed over the result, but admitted that his team held their own against the Central outfit.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Russell. “I think the both teams played real good football. It’s just that we (came) out on the losing end. That’s how the thing go.”
Defence Force played at a high tempo early in the game and Russell admitted, “we went for early goals. We wanted to score, at least, in the first 15 minutes, and kill of the game.
“I think we (got) all our chances and we threw it away,” he added. “When you throw away your chances in football, sometimes it comes back to haunt (you). This is one of the times that it (came) back to haunt us. So we have to live with that.”
Defence Force have struggled to win consistently in knockout competitions within the past few years.
“I feel that’s luck of the draw,” said Russell. “It’s not because you reach finals you need to win it. Sometimes when you reach the finals then you have to bring out your ‘A’ game.
“If you play one of your ‘A’ games before the final, sometimes in the final you’re run down,”he continued. “I think that has happened to us a lot. But we like to win the League. We are looking forward to winning it.”