AFTER showers of rain did not allow the cricket match to be played, past footballers of Berbice High School (BHS) and the Berbice Educational Institute (BEI) took to the All Saints Primary School ground to settle the score, in honour of their former headmaster Raj Mangal last Wednesday. In a display of technical and tactical abilities by the past players of both institutions where the game of football was highly competed, both teams executed tactics to win and excited the small but appreciative crowd in the slippery conditions underfoot.
BHS drew first blood with a through pass from Adrian Bess to Xavier Fraser who found the net to open the scoring in the 15th minute.
However, this was not the end of the road for the Queenstown boys who continued to demand possession of the ball through their centre midfield and former national custodian Philip Carrington, as he too created a goal-scoring opportunity.
He sent a first-time pass to Raul Caesar who took a beautiful shot on Rodwell Liddell beating him on the far post to gave BHS a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute.
All was not lost for the Savannah Park-based BEI lineup, who continued their fight which eventually paid off in the first half through Devon James.
James, who was all sound in his technique during the wet conditions of the game, showed determination with his twinning forward Horace Roache who created the 35th minute goal to reduce the deficit for their team to one goal, as the sides took the half-time break with BHS leading 2-1.
On resumption of play, BEI introduced the arrow-point attack formation playing 4-5-1 with Roache attacking all four of the standing defenders for BHS.
His persistence paid off well as his determination, skill and ability to demonstrate good attacking technique saw him score the equalising goal in the 70th minute, ensuring his side earned a well-deserved draw in the encounter.
However, despite the scores being levelled at the end of full time, BHS, who won the pre-tournament last year, entered this year’s fixture as the defending champions, hence they retained the trophy, now called the Raj Mangal Memorial Trophy.
Other individual prizes were: Best Goalkeeper Rodwell Liddell (BEI), Best Defender Edward Carr (BEI), Best Midfielder Philip Carrington (BHS), Best Forward Horace Roache (BEI) and Most Valuable Player Adrian Bess (BHS).
Coordinators of the event and former BEI students, Owen Humphrey and Robert ‘Buntin’ Carrington, felt satisfied to host the event this year, while making a commitment to make the tournament an annual event.