THE SMALL but appreciative crowd who filled the seats in the stand at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue yesterday afternoon were treated to some exciting and enthralling football between St George’s and Kingston, who were doing battle in a Digicel nationwide-sponsored Schools Football Championships, which the former won 3-2.

In the mining town of Linden, the defending champions Wismar/Christianburg Secondary remained on course for a successful defence of their crown, when they defeated Wisburg Secondary 6-1, with Shane Lukhoo hitting a hat-trick.
At the Police Sports Club ground, Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC) displayed their superiority in true fashion, when they came from behind to defeat a game Lodge Secondary School 2-1, to book a place in the next round of the tournament.
St George’s controlled the run of play within the first 15 minutes of the contest and should have scored the opening goal, but Ozeal Small missed his shot, even though Kingston custodian Simon Emmanuel was stranded on the first post.
At the other end of the field, Kingston’s Shawn Grovesnor’s well-directed corner kick from the eastern side of the field was sent crashing into the side netting, as the battle for supremacy intensified during the first half.
Even though they were being outplayed at both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, it was Kingston who struck first, when Emmanuel stepped up to take a free kick from just inside St George’s half and saw his shot ricochet off the far post, past a bewildered Royston Dublin in the 33rd minute, handing his team a 1-0 lead which they defended right up to lemon time.
Not to be outdone, St George’s, who commenced this tournament as the Petra/Milo Schools Football Under-20 champions, and switched Dublin with Orin Moore in the second half, got the equaliser in the second minute of that period, with the hard-working Lawrence scoring in similar fashion to Emmanuel.
Moore showed he was a worthy custodian in between the uprights, pulling off several saves, including one from Vincent Thomas when faced with a one-on-one situation shortly after Lawrence’s goal, to keep things on a level playing field for his team.
He later saved a well-directed free kick from Levi Williams, before one of Williams’ corner kicks found its way at the back of St George’s net, off the shoulder of an amazed Orin Yarde, making it a one-goal possession for the frontrunners in the 58th minute.
An intended pass from Dublin, the Petra/Milo Most Valuable Player (MVP) was handled in the box by Andrew Laing, forcing the referee to point to the spot, where Ozeal Small made amends for his early blunders by nailing home the spot kick in the 73rd minute.
With the scores level once again, Emmanuel gave up his position between the uprights to one of his teammates, a move that was ill-advised as Dublin rose above the defence to hand St George’s the one-goal lead, doing so with a well-placed header in the 75th minute.
Dublin had the chance to make it a two-goal possession, but shot wide and even though Emmanuel, Yarde and Vincent Thomas tried to snatch the equaliser for Kingston, who found themselves behind for the first time, they failed to do so before the final whistle sounded.
At Eve Leary, Stephan McLean handed Lodge, one of the favourites to take the Georgetown zone title, the lead in the 5th minute, but it was nullified seven minutes later by GITC’s Jamal McPherson, who watched as his team won the contest in the second half, thanks to Eon Cummins’ 75th minute goal.
In Linden, Lukhoo found the back of the net in the 29th, 30th and 56th minutes, which were later complemented with goals from Marmalique Davidson (40th), Anthony Lindo (75th) and Dequan Hercules’ 79th minute strike, as the defending champions won 6-1, with N. Whitehead pulling one back for Wisburg in the 39th minute.
In Essequibo, Charity Secondary won 6-1 over Essequibo Technical Institute (goalscorers unavailable) and Orealla blanked Tutorial Academy 4-0 in a Region 6 encounter, with Kevin Duke (33rd), Orfino Moses (52nd), Mark Devair (83rd) and Jermaine Bizwayne (86th) scoring for the winners.
On the West Bank of Demerara, Stewartville inflicted a 9-1 defeat on Zeeburg, thanks to Stephen Griffith’s hat-trick scored in the 22nd, 37th and 63rd minutes and complemented by Marvin Frank’s brace (25th and 65th) and solitary strikes from Kevin Fraser (16th), Chelston Phillips (30th), Travis Bascombe (51st) and Kitshawn Kellman (67th)/.
Ann’s Grove also recorded a victory, coming away with a 7-0 scoreline over Hope Secondary while Kwakwani defeated Mackenzie High School on penalty kicks, following a 1-1 scoreline at the end of regulation time.