The Christianburg Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) of Linden last Sunday emerged victorious in the “Battle of the Multis”, played out at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue in Georgetown, when they got past North Ruimveldt Multilateral Secondary in the
A glimpse of the action in Sunday’s Milo final
Milo Schools Under-18 Football tourney to register back-to-back liens on the trophy at stake.
In the process, CWSS have reinforced the belief that they are the best secondary school football team in Guyana.
Christianburg Wismar had an easy route to the final, not conceding a goal in the competition, while contrastingly, North Ruimveldt battled tooth and nail on multiple occasions to reach within an inch of the elusive title.
For CWSS, it was a storied title defence on Sunday last, as they were finally made to work hard for their victory.
With both teams being tactically sound, North Ruimveldt employed a solid defence for most of the first half, and Christianburg Wismar did likewise. However, at some point, North’s formations began to unravel as CWSS adjusted their plays through the midfield, inching closer and closer to their intended target.
The CWSS breakthrough came in the 40th minute, when Ryan Arthur took a set piece and executed a well-placed strike into the breeze. Brief contact with a North Ruimveldt defender did the trick for CWSS, and Arthur claimed the team’s first goal of the final.
CWSS held on to their lead for the remainder of the first segment, but a ferocious North Ruimveldt team came out to hunt in the second segment, and repeatedly threatened the 1-0 score line, finally getting their breakthrough in the 61st minute when another set piece – which the Linden goalkeeper could not hold on to – did the trick. As a result, Yannick Norton needed only to tap the ball across the line for the equaliser.
A glimpse of the action in Sunday’s Milo final
But the Christianburg Wismar team soon got another lead, as Jamil James found the back of the net in the 75th minute to again put pressure on North Ruimveldt, whose resurrection skills could not match those of the heroics they had pulled off in the semifinal against Dolphin.
Moreover, Akeem Perreira had an off-day, as North missed many chances to bring the score even at to 2-2.
The final nail in the coffin was a simple free kick, sent directly to goal by CWSS captain Omarion Ramsammy in the 90+1 minute. A few seconds later it was all over, and CWSS were Milo Champions again with a 3-1 victory.
In the presentations, Ramsammy of the CWSS was adjudged Most Value Player (MVP) of the tournament, while the CWSS goalkeeper was adjudged the best in the truncated tournament.
Akeem Perreira of North snagged the “highest goal- scorer” accolade with 7 goals in the 2022 tournament.
The victory means CWSS went back to Linden $300,000 richer, while North Ruimveldt pocketed $200,000.
In the third-place playoff, a single goal did the trick for Golden Grove Secondary. Kelvin Ricardson found the back of the net quite early, in the 10th minute, to secure Golden Grove’s third place finish; which caused them to
Walk away with $100,000, while fourth place finishers Dolphin Secondary had to settled for $75,000.
Each team was given a trophy to accompany their cash prize.
