Vincy Heat warm up in WIFA tournament

St Vincent and the Grenadines senior men’s team, Vincy Heat, will be using the Windward Islands Football Association (WIFA) tournament in St Lucia, as prep for their World Cup qualifiers next month against Guyana’s Golden Jaguars.{{more}}

The Vincentians open their campaign against Grenada today, Tuesday, from 5 p.m. at the Phillip Marcellin Ground in Vieux Fort, the venue for the tournament. The night capper sees the host against Dominica from 8:30 p.m.

On Thursday, Vincy Heat play St Lucia from 8:30 p.m., with Dominica and Grenada facing off from 6 p.m.

The tournament closes off on Saturday, with St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica doing battle from 6 p.m.; then St Lucia meet Grenada from 8:30 p.m., according to a release from the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation.

On return, the St Vincent and the Grenadines outfit will ready themselves for Guyana here on June 10, with the return fixture set for June 14 in Guyana.

The upcoming World Cup outing will be the biggest challenge for coach Cornelius Huggins who was player/assistant coach during the 2011 campaign.

Huggins, who took over from Englishman Colwyn Rowe in 2012, has guided his charges to two second rounds of the Caribbean Cup. However, since the revival of the WIFA tournament in 2013, the Vincentians have never lifted the title.

The hopefuls to change the fortunes include goalkeepers Winslow McDowall and Slyvannus Baptiste, with the latter being a newcomer.

Kevin Francis, Reginald Richardson, Glenford Ashton, Jolanshoy McDowall, Keith James and Roy Richards are the defenders selected.

Manning the midfield are Dorren Hamlet (Captain), Vasbert Ledger, Juma Jilkes, Chavel Cunningham, Damal Francis, Nazir McBurnette and Emerald George, with Azinhno Solomon, Myron Samuel, Dennis Prescott and Kyle Edwards making up the strikers.

The management team also consists of Wesley Charles – assistant coach, Kevin Richardson – goal keeper coach, Othneil Douglas – manager, Andre Browne – trainer and Dominique Stowe – executive member.(RT)