By Treiston Joseph
After their surprising quarterfinal win against three-time defending champion Chase Academy, Sir Leon Lessons completed a fairytale-like ending by going all the way to be crowned champions of the Milo School Football Tournament when the final was played on Saturday evening at the Ministry of Education ground.
Sir Leon Lessons pulled off a 5-1 drubbing of Buxton Youth Foundation to capture their first title in the short history of the tournament.
Zion Gray, who was named the Most Valuable Player as well as joint golden boot of the tournament, did not disappoint with his ability to score and pounced on the miss communication of Buxton to tap in an easy goal in the second minute of the match.
Sir Leon Lessons kept attacking and that allowed Buxton to counter after failed attempts and Shamash London headed a beautiful cross into the back of the net to equalise in the 18th minute of the match.
Gray doubled up just before halftime with another tap-in, finding himself in the path of a parried ball from Buxton’s custodian who could not deal with a shot from distance and Gray made no mistake with the rebound in the 48th minute to end the first half with his side up 2-1.
Alwin Franklin made it 3-1 in the 59th minute with yet another goal for Sir Leon Lesson who seemingly started to play with more confidence and attacking fury.
However, it was Gray’s hat-trick goal that signalled the writing on the wall with a brilliant shot in the 63rd minute to make it 4-1.
Teon Forde then rubbed salt into the wounds of the already deflated Buxton players with a goal in the 92nd minute.
Annandale got a walkover win for the third sport against Lodge Secondary whose players were unequipped to play because of their own negligence by not taking care of their school gears.
Meanwhile, the players received their winning trophies at a presentation ceremony held immediately after the final.
President of the Guyana Football Federation, Wayne Forde, Brand Manager of Milo Christel Van Sluytman, and Co-Diretor of the Petra Organisation were all pleased with the final, noting that it is simply a sign of what the tournament can develop to in the future.
