Golden Grove, North Ruimveldt advance on penalty kicks

Jun 24, 2022 Sports

2022 Milo Secondary Schools Football Tournament…

On Thursday afternoon, the 2022 Milo Secondary Schools Football Tournament’s third day had two intriguing fixtures that featured Golden Grove and Buxton in the first match, while Dolphin and Charlestown were billed to battle in the second match.

Golden Grove’s custodian, Emmanuel Lewis, produced a brilliant save in the penalty shootout.

Golden Grove celebrate after their penalty shootout win against Buxton at the Ministry of Education Ground.

Competing at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground, the Petra-organised knockout event which commenced at 17:00 hrs saw Golden Grove out gun Buxton, 4 – 2 on penalty kicks following a 3 – 3 deadlock at full time. The match that followed will be published in tomorrow’s issue.
Yesterday’s match which took a while for the teams to find their footing, turned out to be highly competitive with both sides trading shot for shot even though Buxton dominated possession.
Golden Grove’s strikers’ speeds were effective at critical points but the opposition’s defence was resolute for the majority of the encounter.
The Buxtonians commenced the scoring in the 23rd minute through an Omari Edward’s strike. Six minutes later, Kelon Croal found the equaliser with the first of his double. On the brink of half time, Croal gave his team the lead in the 34th minute.
In the second half, Buxton brought the scores leveled three minutes after the whistle sounded when Ovid Brown scored. Shamar Walton’s 48th minute goal once again took some pressure off the Golden Grove players but Buxton were not to be denied.

Kelon Croal left and Shamar Walton

Akandy Vanmalson found the final equaliser for Buxton in 50th minute which was the goal that sent the match into the decider, where Buxton threw one away and were also denied in their four attempts while Golden Grove were 100% from the spot.
On Wednesday evening, the feature match between North Ruimveldt and East Ruimveldt was an exhilarating one that had the former win 4 – 2 on penalty kicks after the two sides grinded to a 2 – 2 result when time expired.
The two evenly matched sides both traded attempts in the opening moments but it was the eventual victor that drew first blood when Akeem Perreira struck in the 28th minute.
After the 35-minute first half was completed, it became a leveled encounter once again as Ome Harris recorded the first goal of his brace in the 46th minute. Ten minutes later, the lead changed when Harris found the back of the net to complete the double.
With the regulation time whistle quickly approaching, Calvin Bowlin, with his consistently imminent approach was rewarded for his efforts in the 66th minute which tied up the match and forced it into a dreaded penalty shootout, where they (North) held their nerves to seal the deal.
In the match that preceded Uitvlugt defeated Ann’s Grove 5 – 3 in a grueling battle.
Meanwhile, the tournament continues tomorrow Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26, with four matches on the programme for each day, starting from 12:30 hrs. If good weather prevails over the weekend then just three more playing dates remain before the tournament culminates on July 10.
The Championship team in this tournament will win $300,000 along with the 2022 Milo Championship Trophy and Gold Medals to outfit the entire team, while the second-place finishers will have to settle with $200,000, the respective trophy, and Silver Medals.