FOUR-time champions Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School defeated Buxton Youth Achievers 5-3 on penalty kicks yesterday at the Beterverwagting Community Centre ground, to advance to the semi-finals of this year’s Digicel Schools Football Tournament.
With the win, the Lindeners set up a rematch of last year’s final, against Chase Academy tomorrow at the Leonora Track and Field Facility at 16:00hrs.
The match between the school popularly known as ‘Multi’ and the East Coast Demerara-based school was far from entertaining, given the fact that ‘Multi’ controlled the bulk of the possession in the game and also kept the Buxton school at bay thanks Kevin Dare who marshalled the team’s defence well.
The two sides played to a scoreless first half but it was ‘Multi’ who managed the go-ahead goal when Andre Mayers rifled a right-footed volley from just over the half-way mark on the pitch in the 47th minute to give his school and 1-0 advantage.
The goal brought life to the team who are chasing their fifth title and hoping to play in their seventh consecutive final, as captain Omar Brewley and forward Jehu Regis began to have their way with the Buxtonians’ defence but came up short.
However, things took a turn in the 64th minute when a Linden player handled the ball in the penalty area, forcing the referee to point to the ‘mark’ and it was Shemar Beckles, who stepped up for the challenge.
Beckles, the team’s captain, made no mistake in placing his effort well out of the reach of the Christianburg/Wismar Secondary custodian Nicolas Gentle.
The score line failed to spur Buxton to life as the Linden unit continued to control and dictate the pace of the game.
Regis had a chance to close things off in the dying stages of the game, but he was a step short in reaching the ball inside the six-yard box with his header attempt.
With the two teams failing to find the net at the end of 90 minutes, the game went to penalty. Lindeners were flawless from the penalty spot, while Buxton fell short, thanks to Gentle’s heroics between the uprights when he saved the East Coast team’s fourth kick.
After the game, head coach Delon Peters said that while he wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance, he was happy that they were able to get the win and advance to the semi-finals.
