An astonishing 42 goals were scored on the opening day of the ExxonMobil Boys and Girls Under-14 Secondary Schools football tournament at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue, on Saturday (June 9).
After being delayed by one week due to inclement weather, the scorching sun seemingly fuelled the budding talents who displayed promising signs with parents and teachers all giving rousing applauses in support.
For those who were not assisting toddlers in having a fondly kick or pierced in concentration on the words of their coach, eyes were pinned to the Buxton Youth Developers and Tutorial High clash as the 40 minutes of play simply saw a flurry of goals, but only from the boot of the Buxton unit.
Tyrese Daniels was the young playmaker, smashing a helmet-trick (1st, 8th, 20th & 30th). He got support from Makhaya Jarvis (11th & 23rd), Samuel Garnett (12th) and Rodwell Weeks (37th), in addition to own goals in the 38th and 39th.
On the other hand, Dolphin Secondary and Friendship Secondary brought more of the nerves in their seven-goal affair, with four going to the former.
Playmaker Nicholas Tappin helped himself to a brace (19th & 21st) for Dolphin, while Dwayne James and Ian Ward (27th) were his teammates on the scoresheet. For the opposing unit, Prince Holder with a double (13th & 34th) and Shane Webster (25th) were not enough to save them from defeat.
Likewise, Teshawn Cudsoe’s hat-trick proved to the difference between Ann’s Grove Secondary and Charlestown Secondary. Cudsoe scored in the 28th, 33rd and 36th, which was just enough to outweigh the works of Sheldon Bowen (third) and Mickel Prince (38th).
Brickdam Secondary recovered from a goal by New Campbellville’s Lexus Fortune in the eighth minute to win 4-2, as Akeem Henry (12th & 22nd) and Shoran James (27th & 35th) did the demolition job, which meant Antonie McArthur’s strike in the 36th had no meaning on proceedings.
St George’s High sauntered to 4-1 triumph over East Ruimveldt Secondary via a team effort. Goals came from Simeon Darlington (26th), Dexter Hector (28th), Tyrese Joseph (36th) and own goal in the 39th; Ome Harris scored for East in the 14th.
Similarly, R. David, Nashawn Manderson and Anthowne Bernard netted in the ninth, 20th and 39th respectively, which led South Ruimveldt to a 3-1 assault of Kingston Secondary, whose only joy came from Josh James in the fifth minute.
In comparison, the mundane matches of the day saw Marian Academy’s Daniel Lowe scoring the lone goal of the match between Uitvlugt Secondary in the fifth minute.
The stalemates came when Tucville Secondary and Queenstown ended 1-1 with goals from Garfield Cegar (20th) and Tyrese Hart (40th) respectively, while Chase Academic Foundation, who have been a dominant force in the older age group, were held 1-1 by St. John’s College; Shem Foris scored for St John’s in the fifth minute, but Sean Cato found the equaliser in the 36th.
Only three of the 12 scheduled matches had winners being decided without them having to break a sweat as School of the Nations did not show up for their clash with North Ruimveldt Secondary, Annandale Secondary was absent for their clash against against Bishops’ High and Carmel Secondary missed their duel with Vergenogen Secondary.
The tournament, which is also sponsored by Pepsi and coordinated by the Petra Organisation, will continue on Saturday (June 16); the girls will commence their matches in the next two weeks as their skills are still being enhanced by technical officers of the Guyana Football Federation.
