Digicel Nationwide Schools Football competition... BHS take Region-six title with 2-1 win over Orealla

Digicel Nationwide Schools Football competition… BHS take Region-six title with 2-1 win over Orealla

Jul 14, 2015 Sports

Captain of BHS Derick Taylor collects the Region 6 Trophy from a Digicel Rep while his team and their Head Mistress Tracey Helligar (at Taylor’s right) share the moment

Waramadong hammer Bush Lot 6-1 in play-off at No 5 ground

By Sean Devers in Berbice

In sultry conditions at the Burnham Park in New Amsterdam, Berbice High School (BHS) captured the Region-six title with a hard fought 2-1 win against Orealla Secondary on Sunday in the Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Tournament, while Waramadong Secondary hammered Bush Lot Secondary 6-1 under lights at the Bush Lot ground in West Coast Berbice in a play-off game later in the evening.
In Guyana’s oldest town and one of three Towns in Berbice, a double on each side of the half by BHS’s Captain Derick Taylor piloted his school to its first Zone title after defending Champions Vrymans Erven Secondary were knocked out in the preliminary rounds.
Taylor was well supported up front by National under-17 player and the team’s leading Goal scorer Shemar Arrindell. But it was the Orealla team, which traveled over 50 miles from their Amerindian Community in the Berbice River, who enjoyed the slightly higher percentage of ball possession and displayed better ball control with their neat ‘one-touch’ passing.
Donnel France ‘Headed in’ a corner kick from his cousin Andre France to open the scoring for Orealla in the 14th minute and large support group who filled the only stand at the venue to capacity, celebrated with plenty of noise.
The two teams matched skills and played competitive football as their strikers attacked each other’s goal. More goals could have been scored in the first stanza had it not been for the good work of both Goalkeepers, Joel Gomes from BHS and Delon Lowe from Orealla.

Goal scorers (from left) Ashton Ward, Collyer Daniels, Devon Rodrigues & Oswald Medina all had a good night for Waramadong Secondary.

With two minutes to go in the opening half, Taylor, with both of his elbows heavily strapped, produced the equalizer when he beat Lowe from the penalty spot with one that just evaded the Goalie’s diving effort.
With the Head Teachers of both schools watching, the talented Taylor turned and from close range found the back of the net in the 62nd minute as BHS took the lead at 2-1, a score-line that the New Amsterdam school maintained for the rest of the match as they shifted their focus on defence.
Toza Aaron hammered one powerfully from the left side just outside the 18-yard box but found Orealla’s Custodian, Lowe in the way.
Looking a tired bunch, BHS survived the dying moments of a very competitive game in which Orealla looked the fitter team although they were generally the smaller group.
Over on the other side of the River, three times defending Region seven champions and last year’s National Runner-up to Linden’s Wismar/Christianburg Secondary, Waramadong Secondary, dominated an outclassed Bush Lot Secondary in their own backyard from start to finish.

Derick Taylor scored a double to give BHS a 2-1 victory

Collyer Daniels scored the first goal in the 13th minute to open the flood gates much to the delight of the large and vocal crowd which created a party-like atmosphere.
By the time the half time whistle was blown Dion Rodrigues had scored another goal and Ashton Ward had netted in two more to leave the score 4-nil at the half way stage as the Region five champs had little answer to the visitor’s strike force.
The second half began with Waramadong continuing from where they had left off and although Ken Gonsalzes registered Bush Lot’s only goal in the 59th minute, Oswald Medina responded for the Region Seven unit in the 79th to make it 5-1 and with pulsating music coming from the sound system at the venue, a defence error resulted in an own goal in the 90th minute as Bush Lot lost 6-1. Digicel’s Sponsorship and Events Manager Gavin Hope was present at both venues.