As the saying goes, ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’, and that is exactly what the young ladies from North Georgetown primary served up to their opponents on Saturday evening as they clinched the Smalta Girls 11 and Under Pee Wee tournament.
Martha Chance (20) netted a double to hand her team the championship
The final of the tournament went down on Saturday afternoon at the Ministry of Education Ground, where after 5 weeks of grueling and impressive competition from the girls, fate decided to have a rematch of last year’s final.
It may have escaped your memory, but the 3-1 score in last year’s final which was won by West Ruimveldt did not escape the memory of the North Georgetown outfit. In fact, the reminder of heart breaking 2018 final seemed for fuel an urgency in the North Georgetown outfit.
The high paced encounter began with the defending champions looking to take control of the game with an early goal but the North Georgetown defense had other plans as they fiercely held off their opponents. Thereafter, it was the Martha Chance show as she stepped up to put her team in the driver’s seat.
The North Georgetown striker, Chance, has been a shining star in this year’s (and 2018) tournament accumulating hat trick after hat trick to ensure that her team would make it to the final. But the question on Saturday evening was whether the lanky pre-teen could take it home.
The Smalta Girls 2019 Champions North Georgetown primary
With a clever shot just outside the box, Chance secured North Georgetown’s first goal in the 11th to take the lead. The early advantage did not sit well with the defending champions as they mounted an immediate attack which eventually paid off, as Danella Lewis found the back of the net in the 15th. The equalizer meant that the half time score would read 1-1.
As though their game plan was already memorized, North Georgetown did not spend much time planning and plotting on the bench, but rather sat on the field in their playing formations, waiting intently on their prey.
Chance was at the fore front again, with another handful of crisp shots that either went awry or was scooped up by West’s goalkeeper. She eventually hit the target in the 23rd to take the lead once again. A now panicking West Ruimveldt side fought hard to gain control of the ball but their opponents were like a wall, preventing any lucky scoring opportunity that came by.
As the final whistle sounded, it was the first time that the North Georgetown side showed any emotion, with tears of joy and screams of content.
The third pave playoff which was hosted earlier in the day saw Tucville Primary walking away with the podium position after their encounter with Redeemer Primary went down to penalties. The deadlocked scores at the end of regulation time, made way for Tucville’s 3-2 win at the penalty mark.
North Georgetown also dominated the individual awards as Ayanna Griffith was adjudged the best goalkeeper and Martha Chance walked away with the highest goal scorer award for her 22 goals over the 5 week competition. As such, there was no question when Chance was also announced as the tournament’s MVP.
