FRUTA Conquerors Football Club can finally boast of being Guyana’s number one team, after their Tucville-based unit solidified their position at the top of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League last weekend, following their 1-1 result with last season’s winners – Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

Domini Garnett scored in the 66th minute for the SM Jaleel-sponsored club and while Sherwin Caesar responded late (90+3 minute) for GDF, the result was good enough to see ‘orange men’ over the line with 42 points and a game in-hand.

“The collective feeling of the club is that we have finally been able to overcome the hurdles and challenges of not being able to win a senior title after a number of years. Even though we did win the GFA 1st Division Title under coach Allen in 2014/2015, our ultimate goal was to win the GFF Elite League,” Club secretary Daniel Thomas told Chronicle Sport in an exclusive interview yesterday, speaking on the club’s resounding success this season.

According to Thomas, a combination of youth and experience played a major factor in the team’s success, adding, “We have been able to have a good base from a very large pool of very talented youth players coming through our system, where they constantly train and play competitively and if one was to look at the progress of players such as Jeremy Garrett, Ryan Hackett , Raushan Ritch, Nicholas McArthur, Simon Moore, Leon Sealey Yaw, Cecil Jackman; these are all youth players under the age of 20 years who would have been a part of our youth system and would have now progressed to the Elite League.”

“Secondly, we have been fortunate to have very good senior coaches and both coaches, Allen (when he was here) and our current head coach Sampson Gilbert, have done tremendous work with the players. I think that coach Sampson has a wealth of knowledge, as he also works closely with the Guyana Football Federation developmental youth plan, so he’s very aware of what needs to be done and how the players should be prepared to ascend to the next higher level required of them,” Thomas said.

Thomas showered praise on the club’s long-time sponsor, Trinidad and Tobago-based SM Jaleel and Company, through its local subsidiary, Guyana Beverages Inc., with praises, for being at the team’s side for the past 20 years.  .

“Also I think that for this season we have been able to fit a number of pieces together in terms of getting the balance of the team correct, you know we have wonderfully gifted midfielders, such as Jahall Greaves and Denis Edwards, who have both played magnificently over the season, and I must admit the revelation of our junior keeper Leon Sealey-Yaw has been outstanding between the uprights.”

“We’ve had players come and fit right into the team like Domini Garnett and Trevor Jones. We’ve had the likes of our veteran players Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, Delon Williams, Anthony Abrams, King Solomon Austin who were all over the season to give guidance to the younger players,” Thomas said, in applauding the players.

In the 17 games played so far (one more to go), Fruta Conquerors scored 50 goals (the most in the tournament) and conceded a league-low six goals. The team chalked up 13 wins, played to three draws and only tasted defeat once.

The usually candid Thomas told Chronicle Sport that the stats also demonstrated and showed the club’s superior scoring and astute defensiveness during the third installation of the Elite League.

 “We can say it could have been our experiences from Season I and II, but our players did the work and now have been rewarded for their efforts. We hope this win serves as a catalyst for better and brighter days ahead at Fruta. Plans are afoot to very soon launch a Fruta Conquerors Youth Academy and these plans shall be officially revealed to the public over time. This Academy shall be a fully operational Academy with all the best that can be had for full player development,” Thomas opined.