Santos FC were crowned the new u-17 champions while Fruta Conquerors clinched u-15 championship when the Frank Watson Memorial tourney concluded on Saturday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground in Bourda.
Santos defeated fierce rivals Pele FC 4-3 on penalty kicks after normal time finished 0-0 while Fruta Conquerors also edged Santos 4-2 on penalty kicks after regulation time finished scoreless.
Unable to settle the outcome during normal time of the u-17 fixture, Pele would take an early lead as Leon Richardson scored from the mark. Santos would quickly respond in their first attempt as Mario Padmore netted.
The scores would become 2-2 as Pele’s Akosi Jarvis and Tyrese Forde of Santos both netted in the second round. Pele would then suffer a setback in the third round as Rafael Bollers fired his effort over the crossbar.
Santos would then capitalize on Pele’s failure as custodian Job Caesar scored. Travis Mitchell would then get Pele back on course as he scored in their fourth attempt. However, Santos would maintain their advantage as Travis Cottom scored in the fourth round.
Needing to convert to keep their chances alive, Pele’s custodian Shamar Das would see his effort saved by Caesar to surrender the match.
With the win, Santos walked away with the u-17 championship trophy, team medals, complete team uniforms, two balls and a goalkeeper’s glove. Pele for their showing walked away with the runners-up accolade, team medals, complete team uniforms, two balls and a goalkeeper’s glove.
In the u-15 penalty shoot-out section, Santos started off in the worst possible manner as they was denied from the mark. Fruta Conquerors would then go ahead as they scored in their first attempt.
The score would then become 2-1 as both sides scored in the second round. Santos would then fall further behind as they missed in their third strike. The Tucville side would then capitalise once more as they scored to take a commanding 3-1 advantage.
Santos would then pull within one as they netted in their fourth round. Requiring a conversion to seal the win, the Tucville side would complete the result as they scored from the distance.
Due to the victory, Fruta Conquerors collected the championship trophy, team medals, complete team uniforms, two balls and a goalkeeper’s glove while Santos received the runners-up accolade, team medals, complete team uniforms, two balls and a goalkeeper’s glove.
Similarly in the team’s presentation section, all the participating clubs in the event received new team uniforms both the u-15 and u-17 divisions, two balls and a goalkeeper’s glove.
The individual section of the presentation saw Navin Naughton of Santos being crowned the u-17 most valuable player (MVP). For his showing, Naughton received a trophy and a laptop.
Also receiving awards were Leon Holder of Santos who won the best goalkeeper award and Leon Richardson of Pele who collected the highest goal scorer accolade.
In the u-15 awards, Fruta Conquerors Orwin Garraway walked away a laptop and trophy for his MVP showing while Jevon Harris of Fruta Conquerors and Ryan Dowden of Santos walked away with the best goalkeeper and highest goal scorer awards respectively.
Similarly receiving laptops for their academic achievements were Diarra Thomas of Fruta Conquerors and Stephon King of Georgetown Football Club (GFC).
In the earlier semi-final round of the u-17 section, Santos defeated Black Water by a 3-0 score line. Ronell Roberts, Shawn Mohammed and Kelsey Benjamin scored for the victors in the 13th, 32nd and 45th minutes respectively.
The second semi-final matchup of the section saw Pele defeating GFC 4-3 on penalty kicks after normal and extra time finished 1-1.
In the earlier u-15 divisional semi-finals, Fruta Conquerors defeated arch-rivals Sunburst Camptown 2-0. Olujimi Rowe and Jeremy Garrett scored for the Tucville side in the ninth and 26th minutes correspondingly. In the second semi-final, Santos crushed Western Tigers 3-0.
