From Sunday League to Footballer of the Week

L-R: Futbolista World Manager Celso Montoya, Ryan Ebanks, Cayman Sports Buzz Editor Ben Meade.

It was not long ago that Ryan Ebanks was playing in the Sunday fun league just to work up a sweat. Now, he’s the first choice between the pipes for Alliance FC in the club’s debut season in CIFA competition.

On 14 January, Ebanks did just about all he could to keep his side in the game. After going down to 10 players when a teammate was sent off early in the second half, Alliance held nerve and clung to a 1-0 lead against the more experienced North Side SC.

“The plan was to go in and play our game. We’ve been working hard in training and we pretty much executed our plan,” he said.

Numerous attempts by North Side to draw level ended with the ball in Ebanks’ hands and not the back of the net. Even in added time, the keeper rose to the occasion on back-to-back possessions to make critical saves to keep Alliance out front.

The newcomers were pretty certain of adding three points to their season total when North Side’s prolific forward Guiton King was tackled in the box. “All we had to do was just clear the ball and I’m sure the ref would have blown the whistle,” Ebanks recalls.

With the clock ticking, King approached the spot and drove his shot high and to the left of Ebanks and into the back of the net.

We were unfortunate to give away a last-second penalty. It was me versus the penalty taker and he made a very good shot. It would have been very hard for any world class keeper to save that,” Ebanks said.

In the end, the teams walked away with a point each but had it not been for the heroic efforts of the Alliance netminder, it would almost certainly been North Side with all the points.

For his efforts, Ryan Ebanks is the Cayman Sports Buzz Footballer of the Week presented by Futbolista World.

Ryan Ebanks enters his name into the draw for another prize from Futbolista World.

Ryan was presented with a certificate, a Futbolista World sports shirt, and a gift certificate to be used toward new gear at Futbolista World. He has also been entered into a draw to win an additional prize from Futbolista World at the end of the season.

Each week, Cayman Sports Buzz will select a player for the Footballer of the Week honour based on their performance in any of the following leagues: Cayman Premier League, CIFA Women’s Premier League, CIFA First Division, CIFA youth leagues and the CUC Primary Football League/Girls Primary Football League.

At the end of the season, Cayman Sports Buzz will be presenting a more substantial award to the Footballer of the Year.

About Artiem Solutions and Cayman Sports Buzz:

Artiem Solutions is a 100% Caymanian-owned boutique communication consultancy firm launched in the first quarter of 2016. In August, the company launched Cayman Sports Buzz (www.caymansportsbuzz.com), a website dedicated to the exclusive coverage of local sports in the Cayman Islands.

 

About Futbolista World:

Located on the island of Grand Cayman, Futbolista World (www.futbolistaworld.com) specializes in selling authentic high quality football merchandise and providing excellent customer service. Our store provides players, coaches and fans with the latest authentic football gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and more. Our aim is to inform and inspire others by promoting our passion for football and offer quality merchandise at affordable prices.

 

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