Wales, Paradise secure victories in Premier League openers

Three points are already on the scorecard for defending champions Ensure Protein Max Weymouth Wales and Paradise, both claiming hard-fought wins in their respective opening matches of the 2025 Barbados Football Association Premier League.

Wales, coached by Asquith Howell, recovered magnificently to defeat the St George-based Ellerton side 2-1 on Sunday at the BFA Technical Centre in Wildey.

After a brilliant opening goal from Ellerton’s left-attacking midfielder Rashad Jules in the 18th minute – doing well to capitalise on poor defensive work – Wales responded authoritatively. National defender Akeem Hill equalised in the 22nd minute and Rashad Smith followed through with a second-half goal to give Wales the 2-1 edge.

Both teams were forced to battle slippery conditions following a heavy downpour of rain during the triple-header. Scoring was difficult, with both teams working hard to create exciting goal-scoring opportunities.

Both coaching benches made several substitutions in hopes of finding a goal, but strong defensive work often prevailed. Credit goes to Smith for taking such a brilliant shot just outside the 18-yard region to secure the winner.

Despite Ellerton’s best efforts to respond, they were unable to get past Wales’ backline, which comprised central defenders Akeem Hill and Mario Bagga Williams, along with goalkeeper Kishmar Primus.

In the opening match, Paradise, coached by former Barbados captain Mario Harte, got the better of Abrahams United Silver Sands, winning 2-0 thanks to a brace from newcomer Christian Gill.

As expected, Paradise applied lots of pressure and was rewarded when Gill, a former University of the West Indies (UWI) Blackbirds player, showed exceptional technique and composure. He split the defence and delivered a one-shot finish past Silver Sands goalkeeper Jamal Moore.

That lone first-half goal was scored in the 23rd minute. Despite countless efforts to further extend their scoring advantage, Silver Sands did well to deny Paradise’s attacks. Paradise, after holding on to that lone goal for an extensive length of time, managed to extend their lead to 2-0 with a second goal from Gill in the 75th minute.

It could have been 3-0, but Paradise Captained by Jomo Harris missed several chances, including failed attacking shots from the Russian Mikalai Dziazhko, which should have been buried. The scoreline remained 2-0 when the final whistle sounded.

Meanwhile, UWI Blackbirds and Kickstart Rush held each other to a 1-1 draw in the second contest of the evening. Tekyle Alleyne-Callender scored a beauty in the 43rd minute for Kickstart, while Shamari Yearwood found the equaliser in the 56th minute to level the score for UWI Blackbirds.

UWI suffered a scare when central defender Jaiden Miller was struck in the face and had to depart the field of play. Way too many chances went begging for both teams. Despite five minutes of added time signalled by the fourth official, the scores remained unchanged.

(AS)