Feildians out to fashion a different finish
Double Blues have lost to Holy Cross in last two Jubilee Trophy championships
Mike Oliver isn’t downplaying the significance of his Feildians team having made several appearances in the Breen’s Jubilee Trophy provincial women’s soccer league final.
But Oliver wants an upgrade from “appearing” to “winning” and he believes the Double Blues are poised to take the next step and claim a championship.
Feildians reached the league final last year, but were defeated by Holy Cross 5-0. It was the fifth title in a row for the Crusaders and their second straight win over Feildians in the women’s league championship.
Feildians have bolstered its line up for the 2021 season with the addition of young Conception Bay South stars and sisters Zoe Rowe and Lauren Rowe.
Zoe was the senior C.B.S. athlete of the year for 2019 and Lauren received the same award in the junior category for 2020. Also joining Feildians this season are former Holy Cross stalwart Spencer Wilkins and Lauren Slaney, who joins the team from the St. John’s under 17s. Also back in the Feildians’ fold is Camryn Bonia, who took the 2020 season off to concentrate on her tack and field training.
The playoff format for the four-team Jubilee Trophy league is changing this year. For starters, the women’s championship tournament will be held on Labour Day weekend, the same weekend as the men’s Challenge Cup playoffs.
In addition, the Page Playoff system is being abandoned. In the past. the first-and second-place teams played in the Page 1 playoff game, with the winner going directly to the final, and the loser playing the winner of the Page 2 playoff game. The Page 2 game featured the second and third place finishers during the regular season.
The new format will follow the more traditional 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 format.
“The Page system,” laughed Oliver, “is only for curling.”