It appears that West Bay has a new emerging football team for the likes of Elite, Future and Scholars football Clubs to take note, albeit in different divisions.

Alliance Football Club opened their CIFA Division One 2016/17 season on Saturday with a convincing 2-0 win over Future FC. Cordell Andrade scored a beautifully placed goal in the lower left corner in the 21st minute from a diagonal three touch combination build up from Javon Taylor and Leroy Bodden that sent the fans to their feet with great jubilation and applause.

Future FC defense regain control of the game and closed in the spaces that allowed Alliance FC triple threat of Javon, Cordell and Leroy to dominate the midfield attack. This allowed Future to regain composure and pressure Alliance defense with a number of shots brilliantly saved by Alliance Goalkeeper; Ryan Ebanks-a clear choice for “Man of the Match.”

Future stepped up the tempo of the game with a more artful display of ball control and passes however, a number of missed opportunities from set pieces (free kicks) seem to cause further frustration for Future, and Alliance took advantage when Javon Taylor added to the score line in the 38th minute with a well placed shot at goal that left Future Goalkeeper; James Joseph no chance of saving.

Future FC went into the locker room at half time, down two goals and appeared somewhat shock by the strong defensive performance of Alliance especially against the valiant effort of their star player–former Premier League Superstar and Cayman National Team Striker- Mark Ebanks.

The game was an exciting beginning to the CIFA football season with end to end action, and coaching prowess of Cayman Football Legend and Leading Coach “Hoota” of Future FC verses the newly established Youth Development Coach and Technical Director William Medina of Alliance Football Club. Coach William was substituting in the absence of Alliance Division One Team Coach; Juan Rivas formerly of the League and FA Cup Champions Latinos FC.

Despite the tactician skills in formation and ball control from Coach Hoota’s team, Coach William’s high “press” and attack strategy caused the Future Boys a lot of difficulty, as it didn’t afford them the opportunity to display the usual dominance of ball possession and excellent passing skills which are trademarks of Coach Hoota teams. Alliance appeared very organized and mentally prepared for their first league game and demonstrated this in all aspect of their performance. Paul Mcfield II and Javier Medina for Alliance both played well and were unfortunate not to score two excellent opportunities in the second half that would have added to the Alliance score.

Future however, had an opportunity in the Second half to reduce the deficit when Referee Powery, awarded them a questionable call from the penalty spot which was brilliantly saved by Alliance Goalkeeper.

The hard fought game continued with some impressive football by both teams befitting for Premier League standards, despite a brief allocation that interrupted the game. However, kudos to the efforts of the game officials and both Team Coaching staff, who quickly stepped in to defuse the incident without further delay, and a red card and sending off issued to Future FC- Courtney DeVale. A few spectators were overheard commenting that it was nice to see such display of Sportsmanship when they witnessed Alliance Coach and President exchanging handshakes with Future Coach after the incident, followed by the teams after the game.

Alliance President; William Conolly commented; “despite the incident it was a good game and I am grateful to our fans, and proud of the collective effort of our team both off and on the field.”

He went on to say that Alliance is a Not-for-Profit football club established to foster a wide range of initiatives that are propelled by its mission statement: “To create an environment that enables Youth (male and female) in the development of football and education”. He said the Club has some very exciting programs planned that will primarily be directed to the development of the Youth, in addition to community events that will draw football enthusiasts of all ages together. However, at present Alliance is still pursuing a major sponsor for the Club’s three teams: Division One Male Team, Under 20 years Women’s League Team, and Under 15 years Boys Team. Companies interested in sponsorship should contact the Club at [email protected] or 925-1228 for individuals interested in playing for any of the Club’s teams or joining its Fan Club called- The Force!