Courts Optical Pee-Wee: Marian, Santa Rosa advance to final after sizzling semis

There were thrills galore at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Saturday, as Marian Academy and Santa Rosa Primary booked their spots in the Courts Optical Pee-Wee Under- 11 schools’ football final.
Both teams put on a superb display of skill in nail-biting semi-final games to come away with slim victories, both by a 2-1 margin.
The first semi-final was a clash between defending champions St Pius Primary and Marian Academy, in which the latter dominated.
Cristiano La Rose, taking a free kick from near the halfway mark, found the back of the net to give Marian the lead in the 10th minute. Then, La Rose returned in the 25th minute to capitalise on a good assist from Joshua Johnson and bury their second strike.
Jovaine Wright would, minutes later, pull one back for the defending champs, but it was a little too late.

Following the encounter, La Rose summed up his team’s performance and spoke of their chances in the final.
He shared, “We tried our best, we always try in practice. We did everything right, this is our year. St Pius has beat us in the last two years; we came back for revenge and we did our best. There could only be one winner.”
“It was a really good performance. I was thinking, should I just shoot it or should I just pass it and I just went with the power in the shot and it was really far out, till like half-way, none of my parents recorded it ‘cause it was so far out. And the finish, beautiful pass by my friend Joshua, I didn’t know if he was going to shoot it or not, but it was a beautiful pass.”
The youngster from Marian Academy went on to say this about their chances in the final, “We will try in practice and we will do our best until we get it right. We will win the final, no matter what.”
The second semi-final between Santa Rosa and St John the Baptist Primary was almost identical. After an intense start from both sides, Deon Henry was able to silence the opposition by perfectly executing a penalty in the 14th minute; just three minutes later, his teammate Ethan Ricards would find the back of the net from a set piece for the 2-0 lead.
Kareme Welcome fought back in the second half and found St John’s first goal in the 27th minute, but again it was too late to stage an equaliser.

Santa Rosa Captain Ethan John later discussed their semi-final performance, including their ‘unexpected’ lead.
“We played good and like, we attacked and they struggled to score goals,” John told Guyana Times Sport.
Questioned about the early lead, he responded: “No, that was unexpected. I felt happy and relieved, I felt less pressure on my shoulders to defend.”
“Yes, because we got a good defence and like, we just got to practice our attacking play more and don’t play around the goal with the ball,” John later said about the final.
The Courts Optical Pee-Wee final is scheduled for the same venue on Saturday, November 2. The tournament is also supported by Stenna Drilling, Sterling Products Limited under its Igloo brand, and MVP Sports.