Chase, Carmel in thrillers to book Milo semi-final spots

Carmel Secondary, Mackenzie High, Chase’s Academic Foundation and Santa Rosa Secondary will be the four teams contesting the Milo schools’ football tournament semi-finals this Wednesday following a string of nail-biting games at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Monday.
Emotions ran high on a day where the defending champions were unceremoniously knocked out of the competition by their fiercest rivals in both sports and academics, while another tournament favourite and former champion had to dig deep to get past their menacing opponents.
The first game of the day saw Carmel ousting Bartica Secondary from the competition in a thrilling 4-3 affair.
Carmel took an early 2-0 lead with goals in the fourth and eighth minutes, off the boots of Shem James and Ian Daniels respectively. Shawn Brown netted Bartica’s first in the 17th minute to bring the score to 2-1 by the half.
However, a 60th-minute strike from Ashton Dutchin tied things up, but not for long as Daniels struck again in the 61st minute. Carmel once again lost their lead after Ezekiel Baldeo found the back of the net in the 63rd.

With the game going down to extra time, Daniels braved possible injury to find the game winner. A simple tap-in resulted in the youngster completing his hat-trick and Carmel’s fourth goal.
Mackenzie High edged defending champions Christianburg Wismar 1-0, clearing the way for a new holder of the Milo championship. Azizi Grant’s 30th minute goal was the winning one in the all Linden rivalry.
Meanwhile, the third quarter-final game had spectators on the edge of their seats as Ann’s Grove Secondary challenged Chase’s Academy.
An early own goal in the fourth minute and one goal from Baron Jerrick in the 35th gave the East Coast outfit a 2-1 lead by the half, with Chase’s solitary goal coming off the boots of Captain Seon Cato.

Chase looked more composed in the second half, but missed a handful of chances to draw themselves level. However, as the game wound down, a spirited sprint through the midfield and a commanding strike from Cato resulted in Chase’s equaliser in the 75th minute.
Just when it was thought that the game would go to extra time, Chase’s Neeiaz Baksh pulled off a screamer to hand Chase the lead in the 90th minute.
The final quarter-final saw Santa Rosa Secondary thumping East Ruimveldt Secondary 6-1.
Darius Williams led with a brace in the 58th and 90th+2 for the Region One outfit, while Keshan Campbell (12th), Troy Boyer (60th), Roy Vansluytman (86th) and Travis Jervis (88th) added one goal each.

Daniel Sutton netted East Ruimveldt’s consolation in the 61st minute.
The Milo semi-finals will go down on Wednesday, April 19 at the same venue. At 17:00h, Chase Academy will lock horns with Mackenzie High while at 19:00h Carmel and Santa Rosa Secondary will do battle.
The Milo tournament is sponsored by Massy Distribution through its Nestle Milo brand, and supported by Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc (GINMIN); General Equipment Guyana (Genequip) and MVP Sports.