French St. Martin eyes second place with victory over Anguilla

Marigot, French St. Martin, September 1, 2012- French St. Martin did just enough to win 3-1 (25 -23, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-19) over Anguilla in match number eight of FIVB Men’s World Championship Qualification Tournament NORCECA Group D. It was an all important game as both teams were trying to cement the second place after Antigua Barbuda had sewn up first place.

“It was a must win for us,” declared Paul Quellery - French St. Martin’s Captain. “Right now I am relieved that it is over and we came out victors. We are not quite yet there yet but we are closer to the secondary objective of placing second we have one more step and that against Dutch St. Maarten,” he added.

Captain Ian Connor of Anguilla was disappointed. “We played a tough five setter this morning and so the guys came in rather flat in the first set, probably due to fatigue. We begun picking up momentum at the end of the first set but lost on a crucial point. This carried over into the second set and we just could not manage to pull it off. By the time we grabbed one in the third we were well out of steam,” he assessed.

Coach Jason Liburd of Anguilla was dejected. We did not execute the way we wanted to and now we a faced with a chance of only placing third but we have to come here and beat Bermuda,” he suggested.

Coach Lizen wore a bright smile. “Four years ago they defeated us in Antigua so for me this is sweet revenge. We changed up the tactics tonight and in the end all departments improved,” he said.

For French St. Martin Paul Quellery and Julien Sponsper combined for 31 spikes while Sherwin Richardson 19 points were the highest for Team Anguilla.

The clashed between the two border neighbours St. Maarten- Dutch and St. Martin- French is being dubbed as the climax to the group.