Digicel Schools Football Championship...Waramadong capture zone title after decisive 4-2 victory over Three Miles Secondary

Digicel Schools Football Championship…Waramadong capture zone title after decisive 4-2 victory over Three Miles Secondary

Jul 08, 2014 Sports

By Michael Benjamin
Waramadong Secondary School proved that, despite their past runners up placing in successive Digicel Schools’ Football competitions, they are still a force to be reckoned with for the top spot when they disposed of Three Miles Secondary School (TMSS) 4-2, one day after inflicting a 2-1 beating on Bartica Secondary.

Zone champs Waramadong pose for a photo following their victory at Bartica on Sunday.

The TMSS victory handed them the zone title when the final of their zone matches concluded at the Bartica Secondary School ground Sunday afternoon last.
In a match that had all the ingredients of a CONCACAF encounter, Uriah King (26), Albert Myles (63,82) and Ashton Ward (49), teamed up to drill the TMSS custodian four times, while Keno Washington contributed a brace in the 71st and 84th minutes to narrow the margin of defeat for the Three Miles Secondary School.
A heavy shower that started about two hours before the scheduled 3PM start left the venue in a sodden and muddy state and greatly checked the mobility of the teams. The Waramadong players quickly assessed and adjusted to the situation and for the most part of the initial fifteen minutes of the game enjoyed a great percentage of ball possession, occupying the opposition’s space with crisp and wicked kicks that kept the Three Miles custodian, Aaron Persaud busy. He rose to the challenge and on several occasions held on to the ball after sharp shots.
Despite such aggressive goalkeeping, Persaud found a sharp corner kick off the boot of Uriah King difficult to intercept and could only watch the ball settling aback the nets.
Three Miles’ first attempt at the opposition’s goal came after Maquine Smith received a dolly of a pass, wended his way down the left flank and sent in a thunderous kick which Waramadong custodian, Gerald Isaacs did well to save. Isaacs was called into action once again less than two minutes later and he once again acrobatically intercepted what looked like a sure goal.
The TMSS players persisted and the tables began to turn somewhat when their front men invaded the Waramadong area and peppered their custodian on numerous occasions but he held his ground, throwing himself left and right while intercepting the ball. Smith featured once again, this time working in tandem with Keno Washington to take the ball dangerously close to the Waramadong goal before unleashing a fierce kick; the Waramadong goalie, once again, was ready and averted disaster by a whisker.
The exchanges continued with both teams enjoying adequate possession but none managed to change the score as the opposing goalkeepers upped their game between the uprights thus restricting the goal difference to just 1 nil in favour of Waramadong at the halfway break.
Three Miles Secondary upped their game from the onset of the second session and delivered several kicks to the Waramadong goal but they were mostly misdirected and presented little trouble for the team out of Region 7 (and not eight as was inadvertently stated in Sunday’s article).
All this time the lads out of Waramadong toiled through the slush and were finally rewarded when Albert Kyles sent in a thunderous shot from way out on the right flank. The Seven Miles goalie reached for the ball but mistimed it in flight and it flew through his hands and settled in the network to send Waramadong 2 goals up.
The 3rd goal was simply breath taking; Myles collected a pass as he ran down the right flank, pivoted on his left foot and while controlling the ball on the right, unleashed a powerful kick that pasted the Three Miles goalie and sent his team comfortably ahead at 3-0.
Shortly after that scintillating shot, Myles was cited for a deliberate and dangerous foul in the box and Washington took the penalty kick and did not err. Undeterred Waramadong continued to play aggressive football and pushed the match further out of their opponent’s reach compliments of an accurate kick from Myles.
The boys from the TMSS proved that they were made of sterner stuff when, instead of losing faith, they dug deeper and went after their opponents in a bid to secure the equalizer. It was the persistent Washington that starred again, this time with a soft but well directed kick from the left flank. Inspired by the second success and egged on by their supporters, Three Miles pushed for more goals before regulation time expired but the Waramadong players smartly passed the ball around and opted for possession over goals up to the final whistle.
Meanwhile, the winners received a cheque worth $100,000 which will be used by their school for a developmental project while the players received backpacks and medals. They will face off with the champions emerging out of region 8 on July 18 next in a match scheduled for Waramadong Community Centre ground. Simultaneously, matches in the other zones are being contested at venues countrywide.