St John’s, St Cuthbert’s, Cummings Lodge bag wins

Milo Schools Football Tournament

Under brilliant sunshine and excellent playing conditions, the Milo Schools’ Under-18 Football tournament continued at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue with teams fighting to stay alive in the competition.
With the round-robin stages quickly coming to an end, the final encounters are being staged this weekend. Twelve other teams are looking to cop much needed points in order to advance ahead of their group mates.
On Saturday, the first encounter saw St. John’s College staging a comeback in the second half of the game to secure three points. Both teams had winning intentions, and expressed this from the jump. However, Mark Roberts of Ann’s Grove was the first to capitalise with a goal in the 13th minute. Caught off guard, the lone goal dampened the spirits of St. John’s.
But when the second half began, a more determined St. John’s outfit took to the playing field, commanding possession of the ball as they hunted for a goal. They were finally rewarded in the 40th, when Dornell Trim found the back of the net to level the scores.
Running on newfound adrenaline, St. John’s organised better plays, and Teon Forde sank the second goal in the 50th minute. Now commanding the lead, St. John’s managed to hold off their opponents for the remainder of the encounter to seal a 2-1 win.
In a game that could have had a much more populated scorecard, St. Cuthbert’s Mission dominated the day’s second encounter with a 4-2 win over Uitvlugt Secondary. St. Cuthbert’s wasted no time in getting their scorecard ticking, as Romalo Simon sailed a long ball over the head of the Uitvlugt goalkeeper in the 11th minute. Four minutes later, Mike Taylor netted the first of his three goals, after being awarded a free kick, to set the scores at 2-0 y the half.
Even when the sides were switched, St. Cuthbert’s Mission continued to dominate the encounter. A soft shot and a fumble on the part of the goalkeeper resulted in Simon’s second goal being scored. He later completed his hat trick in the 58th.
However, this time around, Uitvlugt found the determination to reply to their opponents. Back-to-back goals by Malcolm Dainty and Darien Agard made it seem as though Uitvlugt would come from behind to level the scores, but time expired on the West Coast team, resulting in the St. Cuthbert’s win.
The final encounter of the day was a battle between Golden Grove and Cummings Lodge, which the latter took easily owing to a solid defence. Both sides employed strong defensive tactics, and this saw them being unable to score. The deadlock was finally broken by Emanuel Evans just a minute before the half, to give Cummings Lodge some hope.
Calvin Richmond later found the back of the net in the 57th, to push the score to 2-0. Golden Grove did not have a reply, and as such had to settle for defeat.
Today’s games will see the skilled Christianburg-Wismar Secondary taking on Friendship Secondary in a clash to lead Group C. Vergenogen Secondary and Charlestown Secondary will be battling for the top spot in Group F. Tucville Secondary and Tutorial High, who have been languishing at the bottom of the same Group F, will be facing off for a chance to advance. The first game is expected to kick off at noon.