Annandale, Diamond Sec eager to go after each other in REO Inter Secondary finals – Regal Sports to assist teams and players

Jun 07, 2018 Sports

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The 2018 Inaugural REO Inter Secondary School Cricket Competition final for teams in Region Four will be held tomorrow at the Everest Cricket Club ground. The top two teams who made it to the finals in the 16 team competition are set to clash with the winner taking the REO/Devcon Construction trophy. Annandale Secondary, arguably the best team on the East Coast, will clash with Diamond Secondary who can also be considered as the best team on the East Bank of Demerara in the one day two innings final.
However, while Annandale Secondary and Diamond Secondary will be clashing to determine, who the champion school is: today the two losing semi-finalists will battle to determine who would claim third place. Hope Secondary who many felt would have beaten Annandale in the Semi-finals will seek to correct the blunders they made in that encounter. The school which is known for producing one of West Indies best players in Shivnarine Chanderpaul will seek to demonstrate that their defeat against Annandale was due to them being complacent.
They will meet the final team in the competition, Friendship Secondary. While no one may have predicted Friendship secondary meeting this far in the competition, they have demonstrated that combined team efforts and a strategic plan is all that is needed to get to the highest level. However, while Friendship may be considered as a weak team, their showing against Diamond secondary would dismiss such myths as they tied that match but lost out owing to Diamond’s better average. Friendship will seek to demonstrate that them reaching this far was no accident and will seek to avenge their loss to Diamond secondary, while Hope’s secondary redemption path will seek to know if they are indeed filled with hope of showing that they can end the competition with a deserved third place.
The four schools in the last two matches are expected to be backed by supporters of their respective schools as they all seek to end on a high so as to enhance their bragging rights.
Ten special prizes will be distributed along with the top four prizes after the match. Among those expected to grace the finals are Regional Executive Officer (REO), Ms Pauline Lucas, Regional Education Officer (REDO) (ag), Ms Tiffany Favourite-Harvey, Regional Chairman, Ms Genevieve Allen, RDC officials, sponsors and other officials. However, the eagerness by the captains of both finalists are evident as they are desperately seeking to claim this inaugural title thus writing their names into the annals of the RDC’s history as the first school to claim the REO title.
“We’re a school that focuses a lot on sports and sports development and therefore we are very confident of winning this title as we started the competition with a mission to claim the title one match at a time and we are almost there, just one more match,” Annandale’s Captain Daniel Prashad said. He pointed out that despite the fact that Diamond Secondary has a West Indies under 15 player in Mavindra Dindyal his team is not moved by this as they are confident that -what is done on game day in question is the sole deciding factor in determining the outcome of the game. He stressed that like Diamond Secondary they have a West Indies Under 15 player in Chanmdrapaul Ramraj adding that Romel Datterdean is a national player also. “Each team will have eleven players on the pitch so our focus is to ensure that our elven players deliver collectively. We are not putting all of our hope on one individual player but rather on the entire team as this is a team sport and we will play it that way,” Prashad added.
Meanwhile, Diamond Secondary’s captain, Philip Mc Turk noted that his team members are upbeat about winning the competition, the school’s confidence was boosted recently when they won the East Bank finals of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) organised National School’s Cricket competition for a fourth consecutive year thus ruling the East Bank. “We have been winning several matches and competitions over the years and this will be treated like just another match as we remain confident of winning it,” Mc Turk said. The Diamond Captain noted that they are eager to capture this inaugural title as the feeling would be greater to known that their names are being written in history as the inaugural champions. “That’s a feeling that cannot be substituted and the fact that the REO lives in Diamond we’re much more determined to show her that while we are neighbours, her trophy will not leave Diamond as we are the team most worthy of lifting that trophy aloft,” an elated and confident Mc Turk said.
The third place and finals matches are being sponsored by Lloyd Britton thus resulting in the matches being played at Everest Cricket Ground.
It was also revealed that Managing Director of Regal Sports, Mahendra Hardyal has come forward and announced that he will be making some major donations to some schools and a number of players who he said, has shown significant prospect in going very far in the sport. As such, he has indicted that he will be making these presentations on Friday after the finals. “As a sports enthusiast I feel compelled to help in fostering and further develop these youngsters who I am confident of once given the opportunity will go very far. As such, Regal Sports intends to continue lending assistance and support so as to ensure that they can achieve their true potentials and as a sports lover I will play my part,” he declared. The Sports enthusiast is expected to grace both the third plans and finals. Hardyal commended the region on what he said is an innovative and very good ‘move’, adding that he is prepared to lend support and assistance in anyway.

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