'Spanna' confident ahead of Elite League play-off clash

Carlton 'Spanner' Dennis, general manager of defending champions, Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) All Stars, said that the team is on the rise since he was re-appointed after one game this season in the Jamaica Football Federation/Sports Max Elite League.

Dennis guided the KSAFA team to the championship title in last year's inaugural staging.

But this season, he missed the first game and returned to put the team on a four-match unbeaten run and second- place finish behind East Zone winners St Catherine Saints.

Now, Dennis is looking forward to a play-off game against Hanover Patriots, this Saturday at Drax Hall, starting at 1:45 p.m.

"The KSAFA people had brought in a different coach at the start of the season and it was not working out. After losing the first game, my technical team came back on board. And, we overhauled the team," Dennis told STAR Sports yesterday.

"We selected almost a new squad and we got some good results winning three games and we drew one. I don't think that the Hanover team can give us much problem, if we do what we have to on the day. We are confident but also respect our opponent," he confidently said.

GREATACHIEVEMENT

Meanwhile, Vassel 'Tutu' Reynolds, coach of Hanover Patriot, says it will be a tough task against the reigning champions.

"We are up against a most formidable team since the inception of the league last year. They are the defending champions, who have a large pool of players. One of the thing that our FA mandated us do was to do better than last year when we finished on just one point," Reynolds outlined.

"We achieved that goal by finishing third in the West Zone on 10 points. The fact that we have reached the play-off for a semi-final spot is a great achievement," he added. "Now, we will face a tough task against KSAFA but we will give it a good shot."

In the other play-off fixture, St Ann Giants face off against Clarendon Galaxy, in the second game at 3:45 p.m.

St Catherine Saints and Manchester Lions advanced to the semi-finals after topping the East Zone and West Zone, respectively, at the completion of the preliminary stage last weekend.

The St Catherine Saints won the East in unbeaten fashion with three wins and two drawn encounters and finished on 11 points, ahead of defending champions KSAFA All Stars (10) and St Ann Giants (nine).

In the West Zone, Manchester Lions finished on top, also unbeaten on 14 points from four wins and two drawn games. Clarendon Galaxy ended second on 13 points, and Hanover Patriots finished third on 10 points.

The winners of each play-off game will join St Catherine Saints and Manchester Lions in the last four for places in the final.