The Solo Under-19 leagues featuring competitions for both boys and girls under the age of 19 years got off to a good start at the weekend. Many new faces were on display in the tournament and the quality of competition seemed significantly better than that of last year.
In the Boys competition, the Saints Sonics pulled off the largest margin of victory with an astounding 17-0 score line against the newcomers NR Multilateral. The GCC Pitbulls seem destined to maintain the title with two wins, while the Hikers cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Saints Splinters.
Part of the action between Hikers and Saints
In Saturday’s highly anticipated match between the GCC Pitbulls and Old Fort, outstanding junior nationals Kareem McKenzie and Meshach Sargeant for GCC would face off against ball wizard Omar Hopkinson of Old Fort.
While GCC appeared the more complete side with the edge on possession, Old Fort’s quick counter-attacking raids always seemed a dangerous threat. With the first half coming to a close and no goals on the sheet, the diminutive Sargeant finally got the breakthrough for his side with a drive into the scoring circle and well-placed shot past the Old Fort Goalkeeper.
New and exciting talents are on show in the tournament
Not surprisingly, McKenzie would be the other name on the GCC score sheet just after the break with a powerful shot.
GCC would also defeat the Joseph’s Warriors the following afternoon 2-0 with goals by Tariq Nelson and Seth Jeffrey.
The Hikers, featuring a litany of Garnett brothers and cousins, took on the Saints Splinters in what turned out to be a tougher battle than anticipated. Prolific goal scorer Baraka Garnett pulled off a hat-trick of goals in the last five minutes of play to decide the match which was dead even up to that point. The Splinters fought bravely but ran out of steam in the end and conceded to the stronger side.
With NR Multilateral playing their first ever competition, the Saints Sonics took full advantage of their home court familiarity to score maximum goals. The experienced Troy Hodge led the scorers with six goals, Hilmar Chester added four, Edmond Chinian three, Shakeem Fausette two and Shemar Boston and Malique Ferreira added one each.
In the Girls competition, the Bingo Spartans made light work of the GCC Her-icanes with a 12-0 victory. Speedy striker Abosaide Cadogan was the top-scorer of the match with five goals, while Alana Cheung scored a hat-trick, Makeda Harding added two and singles were scored by Madison Fernandes and Sarah Klautky.
The Saints girls rounded off the weekend’s matches with a 4-1 victory over St Joseph’s. Talented athlete Charlia Webb scored the opener for Saints in the 10th minute and Cherub Autar scored the team’s second on the halftime buzzer.
Although St. Joseph’s managed to pull one goal back just after the break through Jasmaine Assanah, Autar was in unstoppable form and hammered home two more to complete her hat-trick and a 4-1 final score for the Saints win.
Matches continue on Saturday and Sunday at the St. Stanislaus College ground.
