BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Losing the BVI Football Association Spring Soccer League title by one

point on goal average after playing to a 1-1 draw last week, Virgin Gorda

is seeking revenge on Sunday when they meet league champs HBA Panthers for

the knock out crown.

Captain Caswal Pondt said to beat the Panthers they will have to play more

one on one football. "The difference with them is Avondale Williams, a

very good midfielder," Pondt noted. "He intends to make the game more

difficult by creating long passes. We have to shut down that long pass and

play more one two ball and I think we can dominate."

Virgin Gorda earned the right for the rematch with a 3-0 victory over Old

Madrid Sunday at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds, while the HBA

Panthers needed sudden death to beat Valencia 2-1 to set up the showdown

between the league's best teams.

Following a scoreless first half, Virgin Gorda's Tyrone Noble beat Old

Madrid's defense for the game's first score in the 54th minute. Leading

scorer Jario Morris added an insurance goal in the 68th while Andreas

Bailey sealed the victory in the 77th.

"In the second half, we decided to change our strategy and play a little

more attacking and a little more safe defense," Pondt explained. "The

combination helped us."

In the other semifinal, the HBA Panthers grabbed the lead in the 45th

minute when star forward Avondale Williams attempted to break the wall set

up by Valencia. The ball rebounded and he passed it off to Mondale

Questelles who placed it to the left of goalie Joseph Brady.

Valencia evened the game in the 66th minute when Michael Haynes fired a

shot past Jermaile Riley. HBA Panthers had the better chances on goal

after Valencia evened the match, the last coming in the 90th minute when

the ball hit the crossbar and went out of bounds. Four minutes into extra

time however, Kevin Liburd stunned Valencia when he scored for the 2-1

victory.

"We know that Valencia is a tough team. They normally knock the ball

around and play together as one unit," Panthers captain Venton James

explained. "We knew we would have a tough time this evening. Fortunately

for us, we got a great goal from Kevin in the sudden death. Thank God for

that."

Ahead of Sunday's 7 p.m. game, James said last week's draw with Virgin

Gorda was their worst game of the league. "We just have to come out and

play hard, keep good faith, play together as a unit and for sure we'll win

this thing."