Ash comes away with 13-0 win over PC on Christmas Day
… Browne fires in five

ATLIN Browne found the back of the net five times while Lester Cummings did so on four occasions, as Ash Educational Institute successfully passed their examinations with President’s College (PC) in the Kashif and Shanghai/Chico Elite Next Generation Football tournament, by coming away with a 13-0 victory on Christmas Day at the Number 5 ground in West Berbice.
Browne found the back of the net in the 23rd, 45th, 57th, 73rd and 88th minutes of play, while Cummings did so in the 12th, 39th, 45th and 54th minutes before being substituted after his final goal as Ash Education underlined their humiliation of PC, by controlling the run of play throughout the contest.
Neil Munroe, who scored a double in the 2nd and 66th minutes, opened the scoring for Ash with his first goal when he wormed his way down the right flank past a bewildered Glenroy McTurk and beating their custodian Sanarier DaSilva.
Ten minutes later Cummings scored the first of his helmet-trick, beating DaSilva from the top of his own box with a ripper to the far post, while Browne got the first of his five 11 minutes after Cummings’ strike from the penalty spot.
With a deficit of 3-0 midway the first half, PC tried their best to find their key players Stedman Martins, Von Harding and Yvan Armstrong, but great defence work from Browne, who overlapped from the defence with ease, Jason Johashen and Kevin Layne for Ash Education, prevented the trio from making an impact for PC.
DaSilva brought some energy into his team with a magnificent save from a Cummings shot inside the box, after Browne’s penalty kick, but both Cummings and Browne refused to be denied, with Cummings scoring a double within six minutes and Browne adding his second during added-time in the first half, which was dominated by the hosts.
As if their 6-0 lead at halftime was not enough, Ash Education took the field for the second half like a pack of hungry wolves and demonstrated such to the appreciative crowd which included K&S Organisation directors Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major, with their deft touches and passing of the ball.
For one period, they strung together close to 25 passes from their midfield to PC’s third, where their danger men on the wing in Munroe (right) and Brian Thom made some exquisite distribution for the forwards, who finished brilliantly.
Twice did Thom send across passes from the left hand side and on both occasions, Browne and Cummings finished clinically, while Akeemo Watts also converted one of Thom’s crosses in the 61st minute to add his name to the score sheet.
However, the goal of the game came off Cummings’ boot, when the lanky striker fired a ripper from just outside the 18-yard box with precision and power in the 54th minute, leaving DaSilva no chance even though he flung himself on the first post, following which he (Cummings) was substituted, while Jamaal Angus scored a wonderful header from a Munroe cross in the 68th minute.
Martin tried once to at least place his team on the scoresheet, but his free kick which was awarded at the top of the box was not only feeble, but also wide creating little or no trouble for Ash custodian, who had an entirely easy day between the uprights, as his team completed the convincing win.
Following the one-sided action in the first encounter, fans were anticipating a similar contest between Bladen Hall and Ann’s Grove in the feature match of the day’s double-header.
Moreso, when Daniel Pellew scored the game’s opening goal for Ann’s Grove in the 8th minute, following a gem of a pass from Jamal Blair, rumors of an upset victory made the rounds during regulation time for the underdogs.
As was expected, Bladen Hall showed fight, stamina and determination after conceding the early goal and duly got the equaliser they were working assiduously for in the 20th minute, when Curtis Martin ran on to an intended back pass, and gave the ball to a free Kevron Durant.
With his deft moves that belied his size, Durant wormed his way through the opposition defence and when their custodian reacted late, he lobbed the ball over his head to nullify Pellew’s opening goal. This sparked celebrations on the bench.
With both sides failing to find the back of the net in the second half, penalty kicks were the order of the day in which Ann’s Grove reigned supreme with a 3-0 win.

ON COURSE
Meanwhile in yesterday’s action, Wismar/Christianburg Secondary, the two-time Digicel nationwide champions inflicted a 5-2 defeat on Ann’s Grove at the Buxton Community Centre ground, while Waramadong were made to fight hard for the second time before coming away with a 3-1 penalty-kicks win over Charlestown Secondary.
At the Georgetown Football Club ground, Waramadong, who placed third in the first Digicel nationwide Inter-Secondary Schools tournament two years ago before losing the next two finals to Wismar/Christianburg Secondary, scored the opening goal against Charlestown in the 12th minute, thanks to Lyndell Joseph.
After a see-saw battle wherein Charlestown went in search of the equaliser even as Waramadong looked to double their lead, it was Charlestown who nullified Joseph’s strike, courtesy of a triangular play involving Josiah Charles, Omari James and Shane Morris.
Charles’ shot was parried for a corner by Waramadong custodian and captain Gerald Isaacs and from the resulting corner kick taken by Morris, the ball was sent to Charles who found James midst a crowd of defenders and he made a one-time pass back to Morris.
The diminutive Morris, who was working overtime for Charlestown, made his way into the 18-yard box from where he fired his shot beating Isaacs on the far post in the 39th minute, to level the score while bringing new hope to his team.
It all went to a-begging when a tame shot from Joseph from the top of Charlestown’s box, beat Marvin Prince, between the uprights for the South Georgetown-based team, who earlier this year adorned themselves in glory with the Scotia Bank/Pepsi Academy title, in the 45th minute.
The second half was no different from the first, with Charles hitting the cross bar, while Prince affected several saves off the boot of 2013 Digicel Most Valuable Player (MVP) Whazir Bascombe, until the 90th minute of play when Charlestown got the equaliser.
Prince had thwarted Bascombe and instead of kicking the ball out, he proceeded to take on the four Waramadong players who were in front of him, doing so successfully before sending a long through ball to Charles, who muffed the pass but won for his team a corner.
That kick found the boot of James who was unmarked at the last post of Waramadong’s goal and made its way into the net, sparking off celebrations among his teammates on and of the field, before they fell at the last hurdle, losing the penalty kicks shootout 3-1.
At Buxton, Shane Luckie got a first-half hat-trick, with two of his three goals coming from the penalty spot and which were backed by second-half strikes from Ezra Ashby and Rolex John, handing Wismar/Christianburg a 5-2 win.
Luckie scored his goals in the 19th, 23rd and 29th minutes of play even as Ashby scored in the 65th and John added his name to the scorer’s list three minutes after Ashby’s goal for Wismar Christianburg, while Daniel Pellew (60th) and Ozese Halley (70th) were responsible for Ann’s Grove’s goals.
In the second match at the same venue yesterday, Ash Education continued their impressive showing with a 3-0 win over Annandale Secondary, thanks to goals from Cummings (10th), Browne (60th) and Halley (70th), to set up a semifinal showdown with Wismar/Christianburg tomorrow.
Waramadong will play the winner of the St George’s/Mackenzie High showdown in the second semifinal tomorrow, with the winners clashing in the final at the Guyana National Stadium on New Year’s Day.

(By Calvin Roberts)