Clarendon College showed their class once again with a ruthless first-half display in the semi-final of the KFC Goodwill International Schools Football Tournament to secure a spot in the final, which is slated for Friday night.
Playing at the Ministry of Education ground last night, Clarendon were dominant from ball one against Suriname’s VW04, once again showing a quality of school football unseen on Guyana’s shores.
The opening goal came in the 19th minute as skipper Romarion Thompson opened Clarendon’s well-deserved account. The dominance continued as the Jamaicans established their triangle passes and slick touches on the ball.
They cut open VW04 again in the 31st minute, with Daniel Clarke netting this time. The score-line remained the same at halftime, but the Surinamese came out firing and pulled one back five minutes into the second half through Justin Jackson to cut the deficit in half.
However, Clarendon reclaimed their composure and continued their stranglehold on the game. They forged ahead in attack but went scoreless until additional time, with DeAndre Gallimore sealing the win in the 90th+2 minute.
Meanwhile, the second semi-final featuring Guyana’s lone representative Chase’s Academic Foundation versus Trinidadians St Benedict’s College saw an all-out war between the two competitors for an entire 90 minutes of regulation time, only for the Chase’s Academic Foundation custodian to make a tremendous blunder at his first post during additional time to break the hearts of the entire crowd at the ground.
Dane King’s performance for Chase Academy in midfield grabbed the attention of all at the ground as he had absolutely control of traffic throughout the game, but despite his best efforts, the front row could not find the back of the net, not for lack of effort, as they hit the bar twice in the first half.
The defenders, too, can put their hands up for effort, as they held the tenacious Trinidadian winger Jeremiah Niles at bay for the entire game.
Chase Academy’s undoing, however, came in additional time as Josiah Ochoa fed off a loose ball from a Chase Academy defender to poke a soft shot home to beat the custodian at his first post, much to the dismay of everyone.
On Friday, Clarendon will face St. Benedict’s College at 20:00, while VW04 will take on Chase’s Academic Foundation for third place at the same venue.
Complete Results
Semi-final 1
Clarendon-3 vs VM 04-1
Clarendon scorers
Romarion Thompson-16th
Daniel Clark-31st
Deandrae Gallimore-90th+2
VWO4 scorer
Justin Jackson-50th
Semi-final 2
Chase Academy-0 vs St Benedict’s-1
Josiah Ochoa-90th+3
