Digicel Schools’ Football tournament...Romario Welcome, Reshawn Charles power IPE to Zone Championships

Digicel Schools’ Football tournament…Romario Welcome, Reshawn Charles power IPE to Zone Championships

Jul 14, 2014 Sports

By Michael Benjamin
A goal apiece netted by Romario Welcome (13) and Reshawn Charles (56) on either half of the match not only earned Institute of Professional Education (IPE) a 2-0 victory over Friendship Secondary (FSS), but the prestigious accolade of champions of the Upper East Bank zone when that section of the Digicel Schools’ Football Championship concluded at the Hararuni Community Centre Ground, Linden/Soesdyke Highway, Saturday evening last.

Romario Welcome (right) and Reshawn Charles.

In each of the teams competing in the tournament, one or two players have stood out with a classic display of ball weaving skills and for the winners of this encounter it was Romario Welcome that shone the brightest. It was he that had scored a helmet-trick in his team’s 6-1 victory over Diamond Secondary earlier in the tournament and he returned to play an integral role in the match against the FSS. As a matter of fact, Welcome’s single goal is hardly reflexive of his work ethic as, on several occasions, he failed to convert after enterprising runs.
The IPE lads established themselves as the more skilful bunch from the onset when Tremar Fraser weaved his way along the left flank and unleashed a thunderous kick from an acute angle just outside the box but was denied more from a strike that was a mite too high than the goalie’s alertness.
The IPE unit pressed on and less than one minute after that failed attempt, Welcome was fed a pass, performed a solo and adeptly tucked the ball around the FSS goalie, David Smith, to clinch an early advantage for his team. Smith made amends soon after from another of Welcome’s shot which he sprang after and tipped over the crossbar and restricted the eventual winners a 1-0 advantage at the intermission.
The IPE second goal was a classic from a corner kick taken by Damion Jones; Charles latched on to the offering which landed on his ‘sugar foot,’ pivoted and slammed in a shot that left the opposition’s custodian stranded as the ball settled in the network.
Napthali Joseph had been the saviour for the FSS in previous matches and recognizing this, the boys from the IPE singled him out for attention and his many raids from his midfield position were rendered inconsequential restricting his goal tally to zero.
As the sun stood in the sky, a bright yellow glow, and with the minutes whittling away to the final whistle, FSS battled fervently to close in on its nemesis but they were denied by an equally aggressive and determined adversary. The reality set in two minutes later when the shrill sound of the referee’s whistle ended the highly entertaining encounter.
The action moves over to Lethem over the next few days where several teams compete for the spoils in that zone starting tomorrow afternoon.