Digicel Schools’ Football Championships ...Defending Zone Champs Charity maul Abram Zuil; Cotton Field beat Wakapoa on PK

Digicel Schools’ Football Championships …Defending Zone Champs Charity maul Abram Zuil; Cotton Field beat Wakapoa on PK

Jul 01, 2015 Sports

By Sean Devers in E’bo
The second day of the Region Two Zone in the Digicel Schools’ Football Championships was played at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) ground on the Essequibo Coast on Monday with two matches being contested.

Ariel Chester finds the goal wide open as he scores one of Charity’s goals on Monday at the NOC ground, Essequibo.

In contrast to the howling wind and torrential rain on Sunday, Monday’s games were played in sunny conditions with defending Region Two Champions Charity Secondary, led by a helmet-trick from Sampson Cullepper, mauling Abram Zuil Secondary 15-0 while Cotton Tree Secondary edged Wakapoa Secondary 3-2 on penalty kicks shot after their game ended 0-0.
Another late start resulted in the game being reduced to 70 minutes instead of the usual 90 and this probably robbed Charity of breaking the record for most goals in a match this year which is jointly held by Fort Wellington Secondary and Leonora Secondary.
Fort Wellington hammered Novar Secondary 16-0 in the Region Five Zone in Berbice while Leonora crushed Professional Learning Institute (PLI) by a similar margin in West Demerara in the Region Three Zone.
Urged on by a decent crowd including a bus load of students from the last Village on the Essequibo Coast, Charity, who beat Aurora Secondary in their Zone final for the past three

Goal scorers (from left) Delana Charles, Arial Chester, Richard Couriea, Gavin Duke, Devin Charles, Sudesh Sanichara, Barry Fraser, Sampson Culepper and Deondne Thomas.

years, took a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute when Delano Charles opened the scoring.
Two minutes later Arial Chester made it 2-0 when he beat custodian Shane Wong and although the sluggish conditions of the ground prevented Charity from playing their usual fast paced style with lots of long passing, they adjusted well to the heavy surface to dominate the first half despite some brilliant saves from Wong who got no support from a porous defense.
In the 18th minute Cullepper dribbled the defense and beat a diving Wong but the Referee deemed the goal offside. A long range shot in the 24th minute by Richard Coureia registered Charity’s third goal while it was soon 4-0 when Cullepper intercepted a ball on the left flank and drilled it into the back of the net.
Barry France scored in the 26th minute and that was compounded by a 27th minute goal from the skillful Cullepper while Chester scored from a rebound off of a defense player in the 32nd minute. Fraser scored again a minute before half time to leave the score 7-0 at the break.
The second session began in much the same way as the first stanza was played as Charity continued to dominate ball possession and the first goal in the second half was scored through a penalty in the 37th minute from Deondra Thomas.
Despite a few good saves from Wong in the second half, Abram Zuil’s back line looked a tired bunch and the goals continued to flow. Cullepper again scored in 48th and 57th minute and his last goal was scored within the 18 yard box off a rebound from a defense player.
This was after Sudesh Sanichara’s right footer was deflected into the goal off the right post in the 55th minute. Fraser and Sanichara would both score again towards the end of the match before Devin Charles blasted a volley from the right side and Gavin Duke completed the demolition job by scoring Charity’s 15th goal in the final minute.
In the other match Cotton Field and Wakapoa, a team from an Amerindian Settlement in the Pomeroon River, played a hard fought game with Wakapoa getting a slight advantage in ball possession.
Both teams made consorted raids on the each other’s goal without finishing the job as the game ended scoreless in regulation time. Cotton Field would go on to win via penalty kicks, 3-2.