Beckles scores five as Bygeval drubs Buxton in opening game
THANKS to five goals each from Shemar Beckles and Ezekiel Prince, defending champions of Region Four, Bygeval Secondary School, asserted themselves in this year’s Digicel-sponsored nationwide Inter-Secondary School football tournament, with a commanding 11-1 victory over Buxton Secondary, at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground yesterday afternoon.
Beckles found the back of the net at will, doing so in the 21st, 23rd, 33rd, 34th and 48th minutes while Prince got his in the 18th, 24th, 50th 53rd and 90th minutes and Kelvin James who scored the first goal of this year’s tournament, scored in the 6th minute, to ensure their team drubbed their opponents, whose lone goal came from a defensive blunder.
After the telecommunications service provider’s Chief Executive Officer Gregory Dean completed the ceremonial kick-off after meeting the teams, Buxton Secondary, who made a similar first-round exit in the inaugural tournament last year, were matching their more illustrious opponents within the first five minutes of the contest.
Disaster struck when a Beckles shot from the right hand side of the 18-yard box, found its way to the far post and rebounded into play, where an unmarked James calmly placed the loose ball into the back of the net.
Despite being a goal down, Buxton, through their skipper and defence marshal Dwight McAllister, fought tooth and nail with their opponents who were stopped in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament, by eventual winners Government Technical Institute.
McAllister received support from Gregory Stewart and Dillon Wright, while Jamal Tuesday tried his valiant best on the right wing for his team.
However, their midfield was very vulnerable and it was in that area that Bygeval, who saw Beckles and Prince receive support from Akeem Keiler, Abraham Browne and Orlando Jackson, dominated the play and scored seven first half goals.
One of Beckles’ goal had class written all over it, when he rose above the defence to head home a gem of a pass from Browne, while Prince slammed home one from the top of the box, leaving the Buxtonians in a hapless state.
They had something to smile about, when Bygeval’s custodian Richard Sealey twice failed in his attempt to clear a back pass, with the ball slipping off his right boot, hitting his near post and settling at the back of the net.
The dominance of Bygeval was to such a level, that Buxton who exuded confidence ahead of yesterday’s encounter, had a mere four shots on their opponents who controlled the run of play in Buxton’s third, goal area in the first half.
When play resumed in the second half, it was clear that Bygeval intended to make an impact on the tournament and felt they stood a great chance in winning, as they launched several attacks on Buxton’s goal area.
Beckles completed his fifth and final goal before he was substituted, but not before he assisted Prince to get his five goals, worming his way around the Buxtonians’ defence and finding his teammate, who slammed home both passes into open goals, much to the delight of his teammates.
Following Prince’s fourth goal, Buxton Secondary began to play team ball, winning several free kicks in their opponent’s third, with McAllister skimming the crossbar from the left hand side of the box, after Wright was brought down, while Wright missed the chance to reduce the deficit to 9, when his shot went wide.
Prince scored his fifth goal and the final one of the matchup in the dying stages of the game, after he got a magnificent pass from Browne, who took up Beckles’ role, after he was substituted, to send Buxton crashing out of the tournament, giving them an early chance to regroup and prepare for next year’s tournament.
The action will continue today with two more matches at Bartica, where Bartica Secondary will take on Three Miles Secondary and Kwakwani Secondary will oppose Christianburg Secondary in Kwakwani. Both matches kick off at 15:30hrs.