By Joe Chapman

MACKENZIE High School (MHS) thumped Linden Technical Institute 2-0 while New Silvercity Secondary (NSS) crushed Linden Foundation Secondary 7-0 to have perfect starts when the Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond 10th Memorial Linden Schools Under-18 football tournament got underway at the Wisburg Secondary School ground, Wednesday afternoon.

The tournament was witnessed by visiting officials from the United States-based Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond Foundation. Ashton Angel (Sr) declared the championship open after stating how pleased his colleagues were to have been associated with the championship over the last decade.

The other member of the ‘Screw’ Richmond Foundation out of New York, Compton ‘Cha Cha’ London, who grew up watching Richmond, excelled by becoming not only the first player from the mining town to don national senior colours, but also a top billiards player, tennis champion and hard-hitting batsman with a record score of 175 not out at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.

Unfortunately, officials from the Ministry of Education in Linden or the governing football authority for the game, the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA), did not send representatives for the official opening of this tournament.

In the first game of the tournament, which is being contested by eight representative schools, Mackenzie High School gained a comfortable 2-0 win over Linden Technical Institute with Kemuel Batson getting the first two goals of the tournament.

First he banged home one from just inside the 18-yard box in the first half then after play resumed he sent a good shot from the middle, which caught the goalkeeper off his line, bounced over his head and ended up in the net for a 2-0 advantage which they maintained to the end of the game.

That game was followed by New Silvercity Secondary thrashing Linden Foundation Secondary 7-0, through a quadruple of goals from Emmanuel Atkins, Ojani Whittington, Huey Fraser and the other from an own goal which came off the boot of Linden Foundation’s Keon Liverpool.

This afternoon from 14:45hrs Christianburg Wismar Secondary will meet Harmony Secondary and at 16:15hrs Linden Foundation Secondary will face the Combined Schools at the Wisburg Secondary School ground.