Milo Schools U18 Football tournament 2023: Chase, Santa Rosa are finalists

Sunday’s grand finale of the Milo Schools’ Under-18 Football tournament would involve Santa Rosa Secondary and Chase’s Academic Foundation in a monumental clash following contrasting victories in their respective semifinal games.
In action at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown on Wednesday night, Chase’s Academy were the first to secure their spot. Chase’s victory over Mackenzie High came in a 3-0 affair, with Matrim Martin, Seon Cato and Chai Williams finding the back of the net in the 12th, 18th and 33rd minutes respectively. While no goals were scored in the second, Chase managed to hold out for the win.
Speaking with Guyana Times Sport, Captain Seon Cato was surprised at how easily they had won, and expressed confidence that his team can clinch the title again.
“It was an easy victory. I didn’t expect to play a match like this; I expect it to be harder, but I don’t know what happened to Mackenzie High, they played for relaxing. From we see that they relax on the ball, we start to press, and you know they came off their game, and that’s how we got to capitalize our chances and go at them,” Cato shared with this publication.
Cato went on to state, “Well, I think the team is good. We’re going into the finals, we’re looking to play hard and to win to carry away the championship once again.”
Conversely, it was an all-penalty night in the Santa Rosa vs Carmel Secondary game, which ended in Santa Rosa’s favour 2-1.
A penalty opportunity came Santa Rosa’s way in the 14th, and it was perfectly executed by Darius Williams for the 1-0 lead. However, another blunder in the box, this time on the Region 1 team’s part, saw Ian Daniels levelling the scores for Carmel in the 74th.
Just when it appeared as though the game would go down to extra time, Carmel slipped up again, resulting in another penalty opportunity for Santa Rosa. Williams delivered once again to steer his team to the Milo final.
Following their win, Captain Roy Vansluytman, assessing his team’s performance, said: “Well, I fell we performed great. It was a good game.” He added about their strategy, “We just pass around the ball and stayed calm.”
The Milo final is scheduled for Sunday, April 23rd at the same venue. At 16:00hrs, Mackenzie High will battle Carmel Secondary for third place. The highly anticipated final between Santa Rosa and Chase’s Academic Foundation is set for 18:00hrs.
The tournament is supported by Nestle Milo; Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc (GINMIN); General Equipment Guyana (Genequip) and MVP Sports, and is coordinated by the Petra Organization.