Weymouth Wales are determined to end their 2025 football season on a high as they prepare to face Kickstart Rush in the highly anticipated Prime Minister’s Cup final. The two sides will battle for the $100 000 grand prize on Monday, December 1, at Kensington Oval.
For Wales, this marks their first appearance in a PM Cup final, and the team is eager to make it a historic one.
Coach and champion tactician Asquith Howell said his players are focused and ready after watching the third-place match between Paradise FC and Wotton.
“The camp obviously is always humble first. Starting tonight (Wednesday) we get ready for our big day, which is on the 1st of December. I think we are really ready to end the season on a good note,” Howell said.
He also revealed that striker Shaquille Stewart is the only injury concern, and that is all the more incentive for the men from Carrington Village to go out and win the competition.
“Well we only really have one person that is hurt, that’s Shaquille Stewart. Right now he is waiting on an MRI and that gives us even more impetus to win the championship for him,” Howell explained.
Wales ended the preliminary round undefeated in Group F. They outplayed L&R United in the Round of 16, buried Notre Dame 5-2 in the quarterfinals, and hammered Paradise 4-0 in the semifinals to secure their place in the final.
Speaking about his team’s performance thus far, including getting the best of Paradise in the semifinal, Howell said, “As you would be aware, Wales’ depth is very strong in terms of turning to 22 players who can at least start. So, we haven’t made any adjustments to our starting team. The team always sets goals and whoever we go with they go out there and play for team Wales. And that’s the most important thing to us, winning any championships.”
Former Barbados and Wales captain Hadan Holligan, the lead orchestrator for his team in the midfield, said there is no one particular player they will be marking on the Kickstart Rush team. He noted that it is a team sport and the entire Kickstart squad will be guarded. With Christmas right around the corner, Captain Holligan stated that it would mean a lot to win the $100 000 up for grabs.
Kickstart Rush captain and defensive stalwart Sekani Mayers said reaching the final has finally sunk in for the Wildey-based team.
“It is something that we obviously aimed for from the start of the cup from last year. We had the salty finish of exiting the semifinals, so we made sure to reach one more step and get to the finals this year. We owe it to ourselves, our fans, coaches, to the players who work tirelessly throughout the tournament. Just one more hurdle to get over.
“The boys know that they deserve it. They work hard training three to four times a week. As you know we got a couple of youngsters in the side, very excited for them to be on such a stage. We also got experience on our side, so I believe the mix works in our favour. And as I said, the confidence level is through the roof,” Mayers said.
Manager of Kickstart Rush, Chad Bynoe, said reaching the final is well deserved. “We are the only semifinalist from last year to be semifinalist again this year. We stumbled a bit last year but as Sekani said he had a mantra and that was to go a step further this year. So, we were focused, did what we had to do to get to the final this year and represent Kickstart.”
Bynoe also revealed that Renaldo Gilkes, who was unavailable for a few days and missed the semifinals against Wotton, will be back to lead the side in the final.
Kickstart, winners of Group D, defeated Wotton 2-1 in the semifinals, edged Deacons 2-1 in the quarterfinals, and made light work of Greens United in the Round of 16. (AS)
