Christianburg-Wismar silence Lodge to claim Milo Championship Title

By Jemima Holmes

One goal was all it took for Christianburg-Wismar Secondary to silence their longtime rivals Lodge Secondary, as the Linden-based team romped to their first ever Milo Schools Football tournament victory.

The best of the best in terms of secondary school football teams went head-to-head on Sunday night in contention for the seventh annual Milo title, and when the dust was finally settled, Christianburg-Wismar were the last team standing.
The highly anticipated final had an entertaining prelude, as President’s College took on Annandale Secondary in the third place playoff.
Annandale broadcasted their dominance against PC with a 5-0 win in the encounter, which could have seen much more goals if it were not for Annandale’s laid back attitude.

Omari Glasgow and Collin Henriques started the scoring early with goals in the 4th and 9th minutes respectively to give their team an early lead. Annandale’s easy-does-it approach saw them missing the mark for the rest of the half with several tries.
President’s College maintained their composure, and even looked like they might be able to challenge Annandale in the second half, but could not accomplish the feat with just two forwards coming up against a solid defense.
The pair of Glasgow and Henriques returned in the second half to light up the encounter, with Henriques netting in the 57th and again in the 79th to complete his hat trick, while Glasgow had a second goal in the 76th.
The Annandale goalkeeper remained undisturbed throughout the game, which had a 5-0 finish.
Fans from as far as the mining town of Linden made their way to Georgetown for the finale, which featured the two top guns in under-18 football. With both teams maintaining a clean streak throughout the three-month competition, the task of winning became even harder, and it was obvious in the aggressive matchup.
Putting behind them their 2018 loss to Christianburg-Wismar, Lodge Secondary avidly hunted the goal, but had one too many missed attempts. Tight defenses made for a goalless scorecard by the half; and the second was following the same path before Christianburg-Wismar were awarded a penalty in the 67th minute.
Captain Andre Mayers took the opportunity, and for the first and only time that night, the Lodge goalkeeper squandered the collection.
The lone goal was enough for Christianburg-Wismar to lock in on the $500,000 grand prize.
The distribution of prizes saw Vergenoegen Secondary being named as the most disciplined team, while Leon Bishop of Lodge Secondary copped the award for best coach. Lodge Secondary’s Beverly Spencer was hailed as the most supportive teacher, while Kim Stephens was recognised as the most supportive parent.
The best goalkeeper award went to Christianburg’s Jonathon Copeland, who conceded only three goals in the tournament.
Lodge’s Dorwin George and Christianburg’s Andre Mayers shared the highest goal scorer award for ten goals allocated, but Mayers had the spotlight to himself after being named as the tournament’s MVP.
Fourth-placed President’s College copped $75,000 whilst Annandale took home the $125,000 third place prize. Runners-up, Lodge, were rewarded with $250,000. The monies will be used to complete a project of the school’s choosing.