QC, Freeburg latest to register wins

Jun 24, 2012 Sports

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By Rawle Welch

Queen’s College (QC) nearly squandered a handy lead, before holding on for dear life to escape with a narrow 5-4 win over David Rose in their clash in the Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition which continued yesterday, at the Carifesta Sports Complex.
At one point they led 5-1, before David Rose produced a spirited fightback.
They were led to victory through a helmet-trick from striker Walter Roberts, who netted in the 5th, 11th, 26th and 40th minutes, while Stephen Rutherford supported with his strike in the 3rd minute of play.
On target for David Rose was Jamal John, who hammered in a brace in the 17th and 57th minutes, while Reshawn Hicks (55th) and Matthew McKenzie (60th) added the others.
In the opening game, Freeburg defeated Ascension 5-2 through double strikes from Selwyn Foster (13th and 34th) and Alex Murray (16th and 25th), while Shurland Profitt had opened the scoring for them in the 9th minute of play.
Antonio Roberts (51st) and Keron Duesbury (60th) were the marksmen for Ascension.
In the feature affair, QC took the lead as early as the 3rd minute when Rutherford latched on to a ball from the right wing and crashed a shot into the far corner from about 15 metres out.
Bouyed by their early success, QC showed offensive urgency and increased their advantage two minutes later when Roberts received a pass down the middle and eased past two defenders, before beating the advancing goalkeeper to the right.
The boys from Eve Leary were not done and stretched their lead in the 11th minute when Roberts, found himself unmarked just outside the penalty area from a scrimmage and unleashed a vicious shot past the hapless David Rose custodian to make it 3-0.
However, David Rose, despite falling behind managed to pull one back through a moment of brilliance that saw John exhibit sheer artistry when he waltzed his way past a host of defenders, before piercing the goalkeeper with a clinical left-footer into the far corner.
That goal came in the 17th minute of play.
Threatened by the opposition’s sudden resurrection, QC went on the offensive once again and got their reward when Roberts burst into the penalty area to reach on to a pass delivered from the left flank and he controlled it beautifully, before flicking a shot past the goalkeeper stationed on the near post.
It was a competent finish from clearly the best player on the pitch.
The half time whistle sounded with no addition to the score-line and QCC leading 4-1.
On the resumption, QC extended their lead when Roberts netted after five minutes, but even then it was evident that they were feeling the effects of playing in the hot temperature, while David Rose looked more energetic and produced frequent raids on the opposition backline.
The spirited fight back saw them reduced the deficit by one when Hicks hit a powerful shot from about 25 metres out with the goalkeeper blindsided by a host of defenders.
It was clear that the momentum had shifted and they netted two more goals within the space of three minutes to make the contest real interesting.
First, John completed his double, while McKenzie netted from a free kick, before the final whistle sounded handing QC a well deserved victory and a place in the next round.
Meanwhile, Hosororo Secondary despite their 11-0 lost to Region One defending champions Port Kaituma are through to the finals today where they will face Santa Rosa Secondary, at the Settlement Ground, Mabaruma.
Port Kaituma Secondary was disqualified from the tournament for fielding over aged players.
Nigel Peters, Coach of Hosororo Secondary filed a protest after some of his players informed him that a number of players on the Port Kaituma team participated in the competition last year when it was an under 19 tournament. According to him it was impossible for the players to still be under 18 this year.
Coordinator of the tournament Lavern Fraser-Thomas made the decision to disqualify Port Kaituma after several players were called upon and their date of birth they gave did not correspond with those provided by the school.
However, Peters said that despite the inaccurate ages provided, his team lost to the better team which was Port Kaituma. “They will be trained better for next year, I had one year to prepare them for this competition”.
Peters also said that once the school will be a part of such tournaments in the future, they will need gears which he is seeking the Ministries of Education and Sport assistance.
This he said will give him a better opportunity to produce one of the best football teams in the region.
Meanwhile, Santa Rosa secured a 3-1 victory over North West Secondary.
Scoring for Santa Rosa was: Dominique Heyliger in the 15th minute, Keith DaSilva in the 27th and Brendon Rodrigues in the 30th.
The lone goal for North West was scored by Quincy Melville.

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