Milo U18 tournament: Round of 16 teams decided

A Charlestown Secondary versus Santa Rosa Secondary clash was likely the highlight of the weekend, as the Milo Schools’ Under-18 football tournament concluded its group stage at the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Queen’s College Grounds at Carifesta Avenue and Thomas Lands, Georgetown.
While Charlestown ousted the defending champions from the competition in a nail- biter, Chase’s Academic Foundation, West Ruimveldt Secondary, Waramuri Primary Top and South Ruimveldt Secondary enjoyed big wins over the weekend.
Chase’s Academy, on the back of a Bryan Wharton hat-trick in the 28th, 29th, and 32nd minutes, started the weekend’s action with an 11-0 victory over Bush Lot Secondary. Bevon Jones (8th, 24th) and Omar Sam (31st, 38th) netted braces, while the likes of Tyrell Walcott, Shaquan David, Duquain Samuels, and Isaiah Hill netted one goal each to back up Wharton.
Then, West Ruimveldt drubbed Yarrowkabra Secondary 5-0. Jerimiah Griffith led the charge for West Ruimveldt with a double in the 9th and 63rd minutes, while Danovan Welcome, Elijah Sattaur and Jamal Fraser added to the tally with strikes in the 7th, 21st and 59th minutes for West.
Gerry Burnett and Jamal Williams netted one goal each in the 50th and 65th minutes respectively and, alongside a Carmel Secondary own goal in the 10th, led Dolphin Secondary to a 3-0 win over Carmel.

One goal each from Rodcliff Adamson, Ezekiel Baldeo and Reizer Reid in the 4th, 5th and 20th minutes respectively handed Bartica a similar 3-0 victory over Marian Academy. Louis DaSilva netted Marian’s consolation goal in the 54th.
Then the duo of D’Lessandro Valenzuela and Keon Grant powered Leonora Secondary to a 2-1 win against New Amsterdam. Valenzuela and Grant struck in the 22nd and 28th minutes, while Feaad Hussein pulled one back for New Amsterdam in the 48th.
East Ruimveldt closed the day with a defeat of Ann’s Grove Secondary by a similar margin, thanks to goals from Ezekiel Gibson (23rd) and Jaden Abrams (26th). Nyron Jerrick attempted to spur a comeback for Ann’s Grove with a goal in the 55th.
Then on Sunday, a solitary strike from Micaiah Defreitas in the 67th minute handed the Bishops’ High School a narrow 1-0 victory over Hope Secondary.
But the real show-stopping goal of the weekend came from Dilshawn Alleyne, whose 66th-minute strike propelled Charlestown Secondary to a hard- fought 1-0 victory over 2023 champions Santa Rosa Secondary.
Speaking in the aftermath of the win, Charlestown Captain Malcolm Hendricks discussed the faith he had in his team to pull off the win.
“This win is very, very big for Charlestown,” a confident Hendricks shared.
“It was pressure on the defence, the defenders worked extra hard. Earlier at half time, a coach come and ask me why I don’t go up and strike, I told him no, that how I had faith in my team and they will score and couple minutes after we came on, was pressuring them, they lost their composure and then we scrape a goal and then we defended and wait until the final whistle was blown,” the young player shared.
“As you’ve just seen, we just beat last year’s champions, so we’re going to put in more hard work, more training, get the guys to come out and hope that we make it through and win this year,” Hendricks said, when questioned about what to expect from his team for the remainder of the tournament.
In other action, a close encounter saw Abram Zuil getting the better of North Ruimveldt Secondary 3-2. Jeraldo Culpepper, Omar Kendall, and Eron Benjamin were the marksmen for Abram Zuil in the 23rd, 35th and 55th minutes, while Jeremiah Moore had opened the scoring for North Ruimveldt in the 1st minute, after which Darnel Sealey added his name to the scoresheet in the 52nd.
An early brace off the boots of Mark Phillips in the 2nd and 5th minutes, backed by one each from Seon Grant, Devanta Giam and Jadia Shortt in the 10th, 65th and 69th minutes helped South Ruimveldt Secondary to a 5-1 pummelling of L’Aventure Secondary. Shakiel Sealey secured what would become the consolation for L’ Aventure in the 16th minute.
New Central High got the better of Queen’s College in a 2-1 affair. A Trevor Gordon strike in the 65th and an own goal accounted for Central’s 2, while Owen Hopper found the back of the net for QC in the 19th minute.
Later, one goal each from Rondell Peters (46th) and Odell Holmes (53rd) spurred a 2-0 win for Waramuri Primary Top over President’s College.
The Milo tournament will resume this weekend at the MoE Ground, Carifesta Avenue.