North Georgetown survived a two goal first half deficit to secure a 3-3 draw with newcomers Mae’s Secondary when the third annual Milo/Petra Organization Secondary Schools U20 football tourney commenced yesterday.
Played at the Ministry of Education ground, Mae’s took the shock lead in the eighth minute through a Darshan Persaud effort.
Cutting in from the right flank after controlling a pass with his chest, Persaud unleashed a powerful flat, left-footed drive that went straight through the hand of the opposing goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The Subryanville outfit would stun the large crowd once more as they increased their lead in the 17th minute through a Hakiem Hutson strike into the left hand corner of the net from, within the centre of the field.
Hilbert Lawrence would further solidify Mae’s position as he netted in the 27th minute, placing his right-footed volleyed attempt into the left hand corner, after a botched clearance fell into his path outside the top of the box.
Held at bay for most of the fixture, North Georgetown would finally pull one back one minute later compliments of a Joshua Ferreira shot into the left hand corner.
The deficit would be reduced further as Ferreira netted his second in the 39th minute, placing his effort into the right hand corner after latching onto a squared left sided pass within the centre of the area.
The Woolford Avenue side would then complete the comeback in the 59th minute as defender Jamal Glasgow inadvertently directed an attempted headed clearance into his own net, following a left sided cross into the box.
In other results, Charlestown Secondary sent an early warning to the field, crushing Freeburg Secondary 6-1 in the event’s opener. Dicquan Osbourne led the assault with a hat-trick in the first, 34th and 65th minutes.
He was assisted by Omari James, Joshua Persaud and Akeem Cusburt who netted in the 33rd, 42nd and 49th minutes respectively. On target in the loss was Paul Caine in the fourth minute.
The third match of the day saw Queen’s College squeaking past School of the Nation by a 3-2 margin. Nicolas Spooner, Lloyd Anderson and Shemar Britton netted for the winners in the 26th, 27th and 43rd minutes respectively.
On target for the losers in the 23rd and 38th minutes was Shaquille Bess. In the fourth match, Kingston Secondary dismissed St. Rose’s 4-1 compliments of a Levi Williams double in the 54th and 65th minutes.
Sealing the score line with solo goals were Terrence John and Allister Holder in the 57th and 68th minutes respectively. Scoring for the losers in the 38th minute was Nathan Saul.
Prior to the commencement of the tourney, a march past featuring six of the 32 participants occurred while Milo Representative Renita Sithal opened the tourney with the ceremonial kickoff.
The action is set to continue today at the same venue with four matchups. In the opening match at 11:00hrs, North Ruimveldt will faceoff with Richard Ishmael while Chris Church will tackle Houston Secondary from 12:30hrs.
In the third match, Dolphin Secondary will tackle Morgan Learning Centre from 14:00hrs while defending champs Lodge Secondary will lock horns with Queenstown Secondary in the final fixture at 15:30hrs.
Winners of the event will pocket the championship trophy and $500,000 towards the building of any school project while the second, third and fourth placed sides will pocket $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively towards the funding of a school venture and the corresponding accolade.
