Halley hits helmet-trick for Belladrum
… Saints and Camille’s Institute issued marching orders
OZASE Halley struck the first helmet-trick of the tournament as Belladrum Secondary drubbed Mahaicony Secondary 5-l when  action in the Digicel-sponsored nationwide Under-19 Inter-secondary school football competition got under way yesterday.
Also in winners’ row were St Mary’s Secondary and Dora Secondary who defeated St Stanislaus and Camille Institute 3-2 and 4-0, respectively, in their first-round matches, which were played at different venues across the country.
After Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony and Minister of Education Shaik Baksh conducted the ceremonial kick-off to start the inaugural tournament, students from both St Stanislaus and St Mary’s witnessed an exciting matchup on the field of play at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground.
Technically, Job Caesar who was later issued marching orders by referee Mark Younge for indecent language was the better player on the field prior to his ejection and he showed why, when he rose above the opposition’s defense to head home a gem of a cross taken from a corner kick in the fifth minute of the match, to send St Mary’s into the lead.
The goal created a spark amongst his teammates and for the next 10 minutes, they swarmed the much taller St Stanislaus defence, but failed to penetrate the goal. Jermaine Fletcher was guilty of missing several scoring opportunities, while Caesar himself was guilty of excessive dribbling.
A see-saw battle ensued as St Stanislaus began settling down and at the same time, prevented Caesar from getting the ball – a ploy that proved worthy – as the striker was issued marching orders midway the second half.
Travis Belgrave snatched the equaliser for St Stanislaus seven minutes before lemon-time which came with the scoreline reading 1-1 and three minutes into the second half, St Stanislaus went ahead thanks to Lawrence Wilson’s 38th minute header.
That goal did not frustrate St Mary’s who, despite losing the services of Caesar, continued to attack their opponents from both sides of the field and were duly rewarded a penalty kick following a handled ball in the box, with Fletcher making amends for his early blunders by drilling the ball past the right of St. Stanislaus custodian in the 63rd minute.
The goal revived St Mary’s who continued to swarm their opponents and received just reward two minutes after Fletcher’s equaliser, when Keron Solomon found the back of the net, much to the delight of his teammates on and off the field of play, to hand his school a well-deserved victory.
According to reports, Halley struck his helmet-trick in the 8th, 31st, 38th and 64th minutes and along with Joshua Fraser’s 28th minute strike, ensured their team reached the next round of the tournament.
Jossari Gordon found the back of the net in the 54th and 57th minutes and coupled with Robert Watts (21st) and Odeon Jansen (21st, 69th), saw Dora Secondary past Camille Institute at the Kuru Kuru ground.
Kwakwani Secondary recorded the largest margin of victory, when they swamped Howell Wilson Secondary 12-0 in their matchup which was played at the Kwakwani ground.
Ivor Williams was credited with the fastest goal in the tournament so far, when he scored in the first minute of the match, on his way to recording a hat-trick with his other two goals coming in the 7th and 24th minutes.
Lancelot Pupin and Earl Rogers scored braces in the 16th and 51st, and 21st and 46th minutes respectively and with Shameer Riverow scoring his lone goal in the 3rd minute, Kwakwani advanced to the second round with ease.
In Berbice, Skeldon Secondary blanked Tagore Memorial four-nil, with Staffon Hope and Dexter Lewis recording double strikes in the 39th and 45th, and 49th and 53rd minutes respectively.
In Essequibo, New Opportunity Corps defeated Aurora Secondary 9-1 while Abram Zuil got past Johanna Cecelia Secondary on penalty kicks, but no goalscorer was available up to press time.