Tournament heavyweight, Waramadong along with Charlestown Secondary booked quarterfinal berths when the Chico/Kashif & Shanghai Elite Next Generation Football Tournament continued yesterday.
Assisted by a large pro Waramadong crowd at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, the Region Seven outfit did not disappoint their supporters and needled the defensive minded North Georgetown team two-nil to move closer to the grand prize.
After being held goalless in the first half because a strike was questionably adjudged offside, the number two seeded team of the tournament broke the drought in the 65th minute when pint-sized Lindel Joseph breached North Georgetown’s air tight defence and sent a right footed cross to the far left post which eluded the city side’s custodian.
The largest crowd of the tournament was sent into a frenzy again when rampant midfielder, Wazir Bascomb found the back of the net after receiving a nifty pass from Joseph in the midfield.
Bascomb froze two defenders with Naymar-like footwork and shot a flat right footer to the far-right corner just inside the 18-yard box to increase the score line in the 80th minute.
Throughout the remainder of the feature fixture of the double header, Waramadong had several chances to improve its advantage but their marksmen were off target as several balls sailed over the cross bar.
In the first game of the day, Charlestown defeated Dolphin 5-4 in a marathon penalty shootout after the game was knotted 2-all in regulation.
Samuel Hunte (40th and 62nd) netted a brace in vain for Dolphin while Shane Morris (11th) and Josiah Charles (82nd) were the goal scorers for Charlestown.
In their quarterfinal fixture on Boxing Day, Charlestown will face Waramadong at the same venue.
The under-17 tournament for secondary institutions continues today at the MacKenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground at 16:00hrs.
Leonora will tackle MacKenzie High School, while New Silver City will take on tournament favourites, Wismar Christianburg two hours later.
Canadian, Major League Soccer star of Guyanese parentage, Dwayne DeRosario who is on a two-day trip to Guyana was in attendance.
Bascombe was the MVP of the Digicel Nationwide Schools Tournament after he netted 19 goals.
Up to the semifinals, all school aged children will be admitted free to each game.
The winner of the tournament will pocket a record $1.2M in cash of which 75% will go towards a project identified by the school.
They will also receive a trophy and 25 replicas along with the prize money.
The institutions placing second, third and fourth will each receive prize monies amounting to $750,000, $500,000 and $250,000, in cash respectively.
The second and third place teams will receive trophies and 25 silver and bronze medals respectively, while the fourth place team will receive a trophy.
As customary, the grand finale will be staged on January 1 at the Providence National Stadium.
