“Suspense” and “thrills” are the words that can be employed to accurately sum up the Milo Schools’ Under-18 Football semi-finals that were played at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Sunday.
Another look at the CWSS-Golden Grove encounter
After back-to-back games and 180 minutes of nail-biting football action, Christianburg Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) from Linden and North Ruimveldt Multilateral School from Georgetown set the stage for what is expected to be an entertaining final next Sunday.
Following a pause owing to inclement weather, the MoE Ground was finally up to standard to host the anticipated Milo semi-finals and the encounters were worth the wait.
The first semi was contested between Christianburg and Golden Grove Secondary and was, up until the half, anybody’s game. Christianburg’s first real chance came approximately 20 minutes into the game as a shot hit the cross bar and ricocheted back into open play.
Dolphin’s defence was solid, at least for the first 45 minutes
While their forwards were now finding their footing, Christianburg’s defence was rock solid, keeping the Golden Grove front line at bay.
In wake of an uneventful first half, Kemar Mc Lauren was finally able to break the deadlock in the 61st minute with a stunning strike.
It was then that Golden Grove’s goalkeeper took it upon himself to play hero, venturing outside of his area to assist the defence and midfield.
Grove’s keeper had really been the only resistance the team showed, and when his decision-making in the moment came under pressure, so did Grove’s chances of making a comeback.
Golden Grove and CWSS just couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half
To add insult to injury, Mc Lauren followed up with another goal in the 69th minute, driving Golden Grove into despair. With shoulders shrugged and heads bowed, Grove conceded a third goal, this time, it was easily manoeuvred by Jamal Peters in the 89th minute, to secure Christianburg’s 3-0 win.
“It feel good. In the first half, it was stiff because we team didn’t playing good,” Mc Lauren reminisced after CWSS’ victory.
The teenager then spoke of his expectations for the final, “Game plan is to play hard, because we know it won’t be an easy final, because the best team does reach to the finals.”
The next semi-final between Dolphin Secondary and North Ruimveldt Multilateral was arguably the more entertaining of the two games, with seven goals registered between the two teams.
The intensity was high, with both Dolphin and North hunting an early decisive strike. Half an hour in, an own goal coming off the head of Gerry Burnette led North to their first goal in the 30th minute.
A vexed but composed Dolphin outfit sought the equaliser thirstily and was soon richly rewarded. Two minutes after North’s goal, Caldwell Peters levelled for Dolphin. Minutes later, Nicholas Tappin found himself locked in a challenge between North’s goalkeeper and a defender, and eventually won the battle to make it a 2-1 game in Dolphin’s favour, in the 36th minute.
Now playing with the wind on their side, Dolphin looked lethal in the opening minutes of the second half. Tappin even extended Dolphin’s lead to 3-1 in the 50th, but it was after this juncture that it came crashing down.
Based on reports following the game, while the game lingered on the 3-1 score line, North Ruimveldt’s Coach, Jeremy Garrett, finally arrived after attending to senior men’s football duties with the GDF team.
Whatever was said to the North Ruimveldt team visibly motivated the youngsters, as they went on a scoring frenzy in the ensuing minutes. North’s Akeem Perreira, Cassidy Carter and Orlando Dickie found the back of the net in the 60th, 61st and 70th to bring the score to 4-3 in their favour.
Perreira detailed Multi’s come-from-behind moment, sharing, “We had a little confusion among the team, but at the end of the day, our coach came and tell us keep it together and that’s what we do and go out and play football.”
“He said ‘keep it together, the game is not done, we still have a lot more time to go’,” Perreira said.
The Milo final between CWSS and North Ruimveldt will be played on Sunday, August 6 at the same venue, starting at 18:00h (6pm). Before the final showdown, Dolphin and Golden Grove will battle for third place from 16:00h (4pm).
