A second half hat-trick from Tyrone Khan propelled Soesdyke Secondary into the final of the East Bank Demerara zone of the Digicel Schools football championships yesterday following their 3-2 defeat of St. Cuthbert’s Mission yesterday.
Trailing 0-2 in the second period at the Hauraruni ground, the unlikely comeback commenced in the 51st minute when Khan scored his first with a powerful attempt from the centre of the box into the right side.
Khan should have levelled the score in the 65th minute, racing into the box from the right side to be in a one-on-one situation, only to be denied by the advancing goalkeeper.
However, he made amends for his earlier miss, levelling the score two minutes before the end of the 70-minute affair, turning between three players before unleashing a powerful strike which snuck under the goalkeeper and crept over the line.
The result was sealed in the final minute as the nippy forward grabbed his third, latching onto a sliced clearance by the defender before finishing into the roof of the net past the advancing goalkeeper.
Soesdyke will now oppose Xenon Academy in the final. Prior to the conclusion, Rahaul Poonsammy alomst gave St. Cuthbert’s the lead in the fifth minute as his right foot shot from inside the right of he box, crashed into the right post.
On the other side, Khan spurned a great opportunity to hand Soesdyke the advantage, flashing the ball over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper in his path after racing into the area.
Keon Kattow then saw his volley tipped over the crossbar in the 30th minute following a right side cornerkick as St. Cuthbert’s began to dominate proceedings. The constant pressure of the St. Cuthbert’s unit was eventually rewarded on the stroke of halftime as Elroy Dundas scored a curling freekick 32 yards out in the centre of the field, which sailed over the head of the goalkeeper and into the middle of the net.
St. Cuthbert’s doubled their lead four minutes into the resumption, with Mark Clenkian making his presence felt compliments of a finish from the right side of the box into the right side of the net after collecting a pass.Nonetheless, Peter Richmond sparked the comeback for the Soesdyke unit as his lobbed shot from outside the centre of the box was tipped over the crossbar by the goalkeeper.
The championship which will be played in the traditional knockout format, will be staged in every region and will end on July 31st at the National Stadium in Providence.
Christianburg/Wismar Secondary has held a stranglehold on the event as they are current four time defending champions. The other victor of the most prestigious event in the country was Georgetown Technical Institute who won the inaugural event.
