Elite ready to return to winning ways

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 29 September 2016

Elite SC's starting XI for the 2016 Charity Shield

Elite Sport Club had a legitimate shot at winning the Cayman Premier League title but let it slip away at the end of the season. Having had the entire off-season to think about that, the squad is focused on not having history repeat itself in that fashion.

“It was tough to lose the league last season, especially at the end like that,” captain Wesley Robinson told CaymanSportsBuzz.com. “The guys just want to focus and come back stronger and better.”

Robinson: “The guys just want to focus and come back stronger and better.”

The 2015-16 season was not a total loss for the men’s team. Despite missing out on Premier League honours, they won the FA Cup.

“Hopefully this season we can come out with more than just one [piece of] silverware,” Robinson said ahead of the start of the 2016-17 campaign this weekend.

A number of regular faces that held prominence in the squad are no longer around. Mark Ebanks has transferred to Future along with goalkeeper James Joseph, while Sean Ebanks will suit up for Bodden Town. Matthew Subberan has also left Elite, rumours were that he was joining Latinos but CaymanSportsBuzz.com understands he’ll feature for Cayman Athletic.

“Nevertheless, we have a few players that have joined our team. They are young and should add to our complement as well,” noted head coach, Gregory Ebanks. “We have Miguel Simms from George Town, Jordan Bonilla from Tigers, Marvin Boothe has returned from Roma.”

Ebanks said with the changes, his side should be able to hold its own. “We have young players that would give us that depth that we need to do well in the league,” he said.

Dwayne Wright has been a consistent scorer for Elite.

Robinson was also upbeat about the team’s chances with the work they’ve put in in the lead up to the season. “It’s been pretty good. We tried to start back training early. We’ve been hitting the beach, having a pretty decent number of players coming out and focusing on work and getting ready for the season.”

Elite was shutout 2-0 by rivals Scholars International in the CIFA Men’s Charity Shield last Sunday and will look to return to winning ways when they face Bodden Town FC at Ed Bush Sports Complex on 2 October at 4:45 p.m. in their first league match of the new season.

The West Bay club is familiar with most of the opponents it will face. Also joining the fray will be Latinos FC, who have been promoted from the Foster’s Food Fair First Division. Although they don’t face Latinos FC until 6 November, Ebanks welcomes their presence in the top flight.

“They normally bring a lot of energy and a lot of fans, so I think that would bring some energy back to football in Cayman. It’s something that we’ve been missing for a while and with Latinos back into the league, it will bring more spectators back to the sport,” he said.