This year’s Courts Pee Wee 11 and Under football tournament will see a new winner as the defending champions, St. Pius were unceremoniously knocked out of the competition, following an afternoon of exhilarating grassroots football.
Genesis Primary, North Georgetown Primary, Tucville Primary and St. Agnes Primary are the four schools who will now fight to the death in order the lift the highly coveted Pee Wee trophy.
It was a hard fought battle between Soesdyke and North Georgetown
In the first quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon, Genesis primary had a walk in the park as the brushed aside the once dominant Timehri side. Timehri defended well during the game’s regulation time, as it expired without a goal being scored. However, Genesis were eager to get the job done in extra time.
Ricardo Hazel was the first to find the back of the net in the 44tth to give Genesis the lead. While the lone goal was enough to grant them a spot in the semifinal, Anfernee Cummings ensured that the win was far out of Timehri’s reach with a second goal in the 50th.
Both Soesdyke Primary and North Georgetown had solid performances during the preliminary rounds, not having lost a game. Their strength showed as the encounter finished with the scores at 1-1. Jermaine Mitchel netted one for Soesdyke in the 30th and later, an own goal was given to North Georgetown in the 39th to tie things up.
Extra time bore no fruit for either side, plunging g the encounter into a penalty shootout. There North Georgetown prevailed 3-1.
The most entertaining game if the afternoon was witnessed when Tucville primary and last year’s champions St. Pius went head to head. The first goal came by way of penalty in the 16th; it was connected by Tucville’s goal keeper Joshua Augustin in the 16th. However, Bryan Brown levelled the scores for St. Pius in the 20th.
Jamal Fraser further extended the defending champion’s lead in the 34th with a goal of his own, however, Wayne Solomon was subbed in and immediately had an impact on the encounter, scoring the equalizing goal.
When extra time could not prodice a winner, Tucville had the opportunity to exact revenge on St. Pius after they were defeated by the 2018 champions in last year’s semifinal 1-0.
With the yearlong regret on their minds, Tucville were superb at the penalty mark winning 3-2.
St. Agnes was another team that had a mountain to climb in order to book their semifinal spot as they came up against last year’s runner ups and the ever consistent West Ruimveldt. St, Agnes stunned their opponents with excellent plays and a solid defense. All it took was one goal from Shane Dalrymple in the 4th for St. Agnes to seal a victory. The Pee Wee semifinal will be contested on Saturday October 26 at the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue. (Jemima Holmes)
