Tournament favourite, Wismar Christianburg outgunned New Silver City Secondary 5-4 on penalties while Mackenzie High schooled Leonora, 4-nil when the Chico/Kashif & Shanghai Elite Next Generation Football Tournament continued on Sunday.
The losses at the MacKenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground put paid to the hopes of New Silver City and Leonora while the Wismar Christianburg and MacKenzie outfits advanced to the quarterfinal round.
After 90+ minutes without either team finding the back of the net, spot kicks propelled the on target ball weavers of the top seeded team into the final eight.
Akeem Higgins (5th minute) ,Quailon Andries (75th), Randy Hohenkirk (79th) and Tineal Charles (83rd) were the goal scorers for MacKenzie High that routed the overwhelmed West Side team.
In the quarterfinal, Wismar Christianburg, the two-time winner of the Digicel’s Nationwide School’s Tournament will tackle the winner of Christmas Day’s fixture involving Bladen Hall Secondary and Ann’s Grove while MacKenzie High will lock horns with St. George’s Secondary on the same day (December 28) at the MSC.
Also on Christmas Day at the Beterverwagting ground, President’s College will face Ash Education at 16:00hrs.
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. (Emmerson Campbell)
