As football fans across the Caribbean gear up for one of the most anticipated knockout matches of the regional calendar, five-time consecutive Barbados Football Association Premier League title holders Weymouth Wales have entered their Caribbean Football Union Shield quarterfinal tie against Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant in Trinidad and Tobago brimming with quiet confidence. The fixture, scheduled for Tuesday, marks one of four pivotal quarterfinal matchups that will determine which teams advance to the next stage of the regional competition. Weymouth Wales, who finished as runners-up in their domestic league last season, face a formidable test against the Jamaican side, which carries the prestige of being current CONCACAF Cup champions.
In an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY from his team’s base in Trinidad, Weymouth Wales head coach Asquith Howell outlined his side’s approach to the high-profile clash, saying the team would stick to the same game philosophy that has carried them through previous knockout tournaments. “We will go in there with the same mindset,” Howell explained. “We respect them fully because they are CONCACAF Cup champions, but at the end of the day, 11 players play against 11 players on the same pitch. We hope we don’t only make ourselves proud, but the entire nation of Barbados as well.”
The Barbadian side will have to navigate the challenge without one of their key attacking threats: speedy starting winger and former Barbados national team captain Rashad Jules, who is suspended for the tie after receiving a red card in the team’s previous CFU Shield encounter. Compounding the selection headache for Howell is a fitness doubt over midfielder Kemar Headley, who picked up an injury in Weymouth Wales’ opening group stage match against S.V. Britannia. Headley has been named to the match day squad but is listed as 50/50 to feature, with Howell indicating he will start the game on the bench as a precaution.
Weymouth Wales progressed out of the group stage with a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout win over S.V. Britannia, after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes of regulation time. Howell admitted that his team made costly mistakes in that opening game that they have since worked to correct. Armando Lashley gave the Barbadians an early lead, but Howell said the side let their guard down immediately after the opening goal, falling into the same bad habit that plagued some of their domestic BFA Premiership results during the current campaign.
“We went in there with a clear game plan, but I think our guys got complacent right after we scored that early goal,” Howell said. “We stepped off the gas, just like we did in some BFA matches this season when we failed to convert our chances to finish off games and put the result away. That was definitely a point of concern for the coaching staff, but we’ve put in the work over the last few days to fix those small errors, and I think we are fully prepared to take on Mount Pleasant.”
Over on the Mount Pleasant camp, the Jamaican side is just as confident of securing a positive result, with Sporting Director Paul Christie saying the team is targeting not just a win on Tuesday, but lifting the entire CFU Shield trophy. Unlike Weymouth Wales, Mount Pleasant received a bye directly to the round of 16, where their scheduled opponent All Saints United withdrew from the competition, giving the Jamaican side a walkover straight to the quarterfinals. This means Tuesday’s clash will be Mount Pleasant’s first competitive fixture of this year’s tournament.
Speaking ahead of the tie to the Jamaica Observer, Christie said the club thrives under the pressure of high-stakes knockout football, drawing on his nearly 30 years of experience in the sport. “I’ve been in football for almost 30 years, and I’ve never felt pressure in my career. I don’t do pressure – we live for moments like this,” Christie said. “When people say a result can’t be done, we work to show them there’s always a way, and our job is to find that way. For truly great players, the bigger the moment, the brighter they shine. If you can’t perform when the stakes are highest, you’re in the wrong sport.”
Christie added that the tie represents a historic opportunity for the club to claim its first CFU Shield trophy, a piece of silverware that has never been added to the Mount Pleasant club’s collection. He stressed that the team would not take the field with an overconfident, entitled attitude, instead focusing on executing their game plan to earn the result. “This is our chance to bring a trophy home that has never been in Mount Pleasant’s trophy cabinet,” he said. “We aren’t going into this match thinking we are owed a win. We know we have to work for every moment, we will do the best we can, and accept whatever result comes after that.”