Christianburg-Wismar, Annandale, Vergenoegen and PC enter quarterfinals

Milo Schools Football Tournament…

Four more teams have sealed their spots in the quarterfinals of the Milo Schools Football Tournament after an intense day of competition on Sunday.
Annandale Secondary, Christianburg-Wismar Secondary, Vergenoegen Secondary, and President’s College have now joined The Bishops’ High School and Charlestown Secondary as they await the final two teams that will feature in a scintillating quarterfinal round this weekend.
Annandale Secondary maintained their dominance with a 3-0 win over Friendship Secondary in the day’s opening game. From the sound of the first whistle, Annandale were in control of the encounter, dominating ball possession. However, Friendship Secondary surprised the East Coast team with a commendable defence, which held the rapidly attacking Annandale side from finding the back of the net for the entire first half.
However, the defence did not hold up as Annandale became determined to take the win.
Seon Haywood started the scoring in the 48th minute, and was followed minutes later by Jemar Harrigon, who fired a long shot from outside the 18-yard which was too fast for the Friendship goalkeeper to hold on to.
In the 60th minute, Harrigon returned with a similar shot from a closer range, and sunk that one too, to push Annandale’s tally to 3-0 for the win.
The following encounter was contested by Christianburg- Wismar and Canje Secondary. The game held its own set of surprises, as Canje Secondary managed to hold off Christianburg-Wismar for quite some time. The four-man Canje defence worked brilliantly in the beginning of the game to reply to every shot taken by their opponents. Putting Christianburg-Wismar in the hot seat further, Canje’s Rivaldo Hetmyer netted the first goal of the game in the 30th minute.
It was after this that the game took a turn, with the Canje goalkeeper failing to hold on to the ball, which was nudged into the goal by Andre Meyers in the 31st minute, to equalise.
The second half saw Christianburg-Wismar returning with fresh vigour in pursuit of the lead. Tyrese Lewis’s shot from inside the box found the back of the net in the 42nd minute, and another fumble by the Canje goalkeeper saw Lewis registering another goal in the 45th minute.
Try as they might, Canje could not equalise, and had to settle for the loss.
A clearly determined Vergenoegen Secondary took the win in the third game, as they did some last-minute scoring against a tired St Cuthbert’s Mission team.
The high-paced match-up began with both teams keenly hunting the goal, but as the time ticked by, neither side was able to finish their plays. After the second half began, St. Cuthbert’s Mission’s fuel had clearly run out. The Region 4 boys struggled to keep up with Vergenoegen, a factor that the latter used to their advantage.
Jemar Evans performed a one- man show for his goal in the 71st, and seven minutes later, Ronaldo Macey did the same, to push the score to 2-0.
Time eventually expired, causing St. Cuthbert’s to exit the competition.
The final game was a battle of the Colleges, as President’s and Queen’s went head to head. In the end, President’s College prevailed with a 3-1 win.
The first half passed quietly, with no goals scored, and Diarra Thomas found the back of the net in the 51st minute to give QC some hope. However, President’s College found their groove later, and netted three back-to-back goals, thanks to Edron Stephens and Jushawn Bailey, to take the quarterfinal spot.
The quarterfinal contest will be staged at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue on March 30 and 31 (this weekend).