By Duncan Saul
in Mabaruma
Photos by Orlando Charles
Santa Rosa Secondary clinched their second consecutive Region One title as they edged Port Kaituma Secondary 9-8 on sudden death kicks in an absolute thriller as action in the Digicel Secondary Schools National U18 Football Tournament continued at the Mabaruma Community Centre ground yesterday.
Alan Gomes would bury the winning sudden death kick to seal what was a fitting finale after regulation time and penalty kicks found the scores locked at 3-3 and 4-4 respectively.
Witnessed by the largest crowd to grace the venue in the tournament, Santa Rosa would take the lead in the second period following a back and forth first half through a Brendon Phillips penalty conversion in the 47th minute.
Santa Rosa would double their advantage in the 57th minute from a Dwayne Rebeiro strike. Receiving a powerful left side cross from Phillips, Rebeiro would pounce on a poor missed catch by the keeper to score unmarked in the six-yard area.
The see-saw battle would quickly ensue as Keith Fraser etched his name on the scorer’s sheet for Port Kaituma with a timely 76th minute strike following a brilliant solo run and pass in the 18-yard box by dynamic forward Ralph Parris.
The deserved equalizer would be found 10 minutes later through a cheeky lobbed shot from the right side of the 18-yard area by Parris that bounced agonizingly slowly into the back of the Santa Rosa net.
Roaring with excitement, the crowd would be treated to a moment of sublime quality as Phillips pushed Santa Rosa back into the lead in a last-gasp 90th minute effort. It was a brilliant 22- yard right-footed free kick into the top right hand side of the woodwork.
Not to be outdone, the game would take a further twist as Jamal James scored arguably the goal of the encounter in the 90th+2 minutes to level proceedings..
Receiving the ball in the centre of the midfield, James would dribble past his marker before unleashing a left-footed screamer that nestled in the bottom left-hand corner of the goal to send the crowd into raptures.
With the win, Santa Rosa received the conference trophy, first place gold medals and new uniforms signifying their status as champions of the region.
They will oppose Region Eight Champions Mahdia Secondary on Wednesday July 17th at the same venue as the overall championship continues.
St. George’s Secondary earned Georgetown bragging rights as they defeated Dolphin Secondary 4-2 on penalty kicks in the city conference finale at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue. Regulation time found both sides locked at nil-all
Over at the Beterverwagting (BV) Ground, East Coast Demerara, East Bank Champions Covent Garden Secondary were crowned the Region Four champions as they defeated East Coast Champions Bladen Hall Secondary 2-0.
Powering the East Bank of Demerara to their first Region Four title was Sheldon Chapman and Kesta Joseph who scored in the fifth and 84th minutes respectively.
