The 2024 CFU Club Shield kicked off with 20 teams on Thursday evening in Willemstad, Curaçao. The first two of 20 matches were played, with four teams involved in the preliminary round.
And in the second of those matches, the Bexon Active Youth Squad earned the first win for a Saint Lucian team at this level since 2019.
Rio Longville could perhaps have been on the scoreboard twice or three times. But he was there once, and that was all that mattered. The 21-year-old from Canaries struck in the 80th minute to give BAYS a 1-0 win over Sint Maarten champions, SCSA Eagles.
Roger Joseph is the team’s manager. He shared his thoughts on the fixture with St. Lucia Times.
“I think the game was a perfect example of plan and execute,” he remarked. “As a technical team we did our homework and it gave us a victory. The team did a great job on the field of play, and key players stood up tall when they had to.
“Tactically, we played a lot through our midfield as this is where we knew something could have come from. We used the space that was given to us perfectly, and let’s not forget the saves that was made by our goalkeeper.
“Players like Elias Jones played composed in the middle, and controlled the game the way we wanted to.”
BAYS now moves on to the Round of 16, where they face the tough task of overhauling CRKSV Jong Holland, the home team, on Saturday at 8:00 pm.
In the past six years, BAYS is the third different club to represent Saint Lucia in this competition. Platinum FC were the last side to win, defeating Real Rincon 4-2 in 2019.
Last year, B1 FC lost 8-2 to Universidad O&M and 4-0 to Matoury.
Also involved in the CFU Club Shield are Grenades, the Antigua & Barbuda title holders. Their numbers include two Saint Lucians – former national captain, left back Kurt Frederick, and attacker Sherman Augustin. The Antiguan outfit is set to take on Guyana Defence Force on Friday afternoon.