For the first time in the tournament’s seven-year history, Marian Academy won the coveted MVP Sports Girls U11 Pee Wee Schools Football tournament, defeating St. John the Baptist 2-1 yesterday at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.
Marian Academy had a formidable St. John the Baptist team in their way and put up a spirited performance to run out winners with a last-gasp goal in the final minute of regulation time.
Earlier in the first half, Marian’s captain and the eventual tournament’s highest goal scorer, Skylar DeNobrega, had broken the deadlock, netting her 10th goal of the tournament in the 13th minute to spark wild celebrations from parents and her team bench.
However, the event’s eventual Most Valuable Player (MVP), Shemia Hingh, scored arguably the tournament’s best goal when she dribbled past the entire Marian team and their goalkeeper to walk the ball into the net and equalise for her side.
Despite Hingh’s best efforts both in defence and offence, she could not drag her team over the line, and when Haley Kaberkorn struck the ball towards the St. John goalie, the ball took a deflection and trickled through the goalie’s legs and into the net to send the Marian supporters into another frenzy.
Thus, the game ended in heartbreak for Hingh and her teammates but in joy and triumph for DeNobrega and her side.
Earlier in the day, a neck-and-neck encounter between last year’s winners, North Georgetown and West Ruimveldt, decided the third and fourth-place finishers. After fulltime failed to separate the two at 0-0, it was down to penalty kicks, and North Georgetown prevailed 5-2 to finish third.
At the presentation ceremony, Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca sang the praises of all involved, especially title sponsor MVP Sports and its principal Ian Ramdeo, for stepping up and providing a platform for the next generation of female footballers in the country.
In turn, Ramdeo committed to continued sponsorship of the female game and said that he was proud to be a part of such an undertaking, as MVP Sports is all about the development of youth.
The Petra Organisation will now turn their attention to the crown jewel of their year, the KFC Goodwill Schools Football Tournament, which will see five Guyanese schools take on three overseas school teams from Suriname, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. That tournament will kick off on December 12.
