Waramadong edge past BVSS in penalty thriller
… meet CWSS in final

SPURRED on by some excellent custodial work from their skipper Gerald Isaacs, two-time national runners-up Waramadong Secondary School (WSS) edged past a game and determined Beterverwagting Secondary School (BVSS) in a thrilling semifinal encounter at the Beterverwagting Community Centre ground yesterday afternoon.

In a contest that was witnessed by president of the Guyana Football Federation Christopher Matthias, Marketing Director of Digicel Jacqueline James and members of her staff including Sponsorship and Events Manager Gavin Hope, Managing Director of Ansa McAl, Beverley Harper and her Marketing Director Troy Cadogan, both teams played to a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation time.
It came down to penalty kicks, which saw WSS, who reigned supreme in Region 8 for four successive years, come away with a 4-3 victory to march into next Sunday’s final.
This was after Dion Rodrigues (19th) and Uriah King (72nd) had given WSS, who lost in back-to-back finals in 2012 and 2013 to two-time defending champions Christianburg Wismar Secondary, a 2-0 cushion that was nullified for BVSS with goals from Paul Kingston (75th) and Okemie Hoppie (83rd).
The contest started at a fast pace, with BVSS Kurt Abrams making his way down the left flank, before sending a beautiful pass to Phillip Yearwood, who found it difficult to get off a shot despite being present in the box, as WSS defence that was marshalled by Myles Albert, dispossessed him of the ball.
At the other end of the field, Waramadong’s Ashton Ward sent a powerful shot to goal, following a botched clearance from BVSS custodian Shawn Bhramdeow, who had a miserable day between the uprights, only to see the ball hit the crossbar and rebounding back into Bhramdeow’s grasp.
As play progressed within the first 15 minutes, both teams looked to assert themselves, until Rodrigues latched onto a free kick from Albert, following a handled ball deep inside BVSS’ half and beat Bhramdeow, who had fumbled the kick in the 19th minute to give WSS a 1-0 lead.
Even though they realised Bhramdeow was having a terrible day between the uprights, WSS’ effort to double their lead was thwarted by the defensive work of the BVSS players, who did their best to shield their custodian from the attacking WSS lineup.
The scoreline read 1-0 in favour of WSS at lemon-time and on the resumption of play, the pattern which occurred for the first 15 minutes of the first half, repeated itself as both sides looked to control, even as BVSS were looking for the equalising goal.
They could not locate such and merely found themselves two goals down, when a flying header from King, off another well-directed Albert free kick, beat Bhramdeow on his first post in the 72nd minute to give WSS a 2-0 cushion.
Three minutes later, BVSS found the goal they were looking for, when Kingston beat Isaacs with a well-directed indirect free-kick, after the WSS custodian was blown for a handled ball outside the box, a goal that brought life to his team.
BVSS took the opportunity and hunted their opponents’ goal area at will, forcing several turnovers in the midfield area, with Albert showing signs of tiring and it was during this period, that the equalising goal was scored, creating pandemonium on the field of play.
An unmarked Hoppie was in the right place at the right time, when Isaacs looked to clear a ball from his goal area, with the said ball landing squarely at the feet of Hoppie, whose first-time shot to goal found its target with Isaacs way off the line, sparking wild celebrations, as the vociferous throng of supporters halted play for a few seconds to celebrate with the BVSS players.
With no more goals materialising during regulation time and FIFA ruling out extra time in junior football, penalty kicks was the order of the day for a winner to be decided and in true leadership fashion, Isaacs took and scored WSS’ first kick.
Even though two other BVSS players scored, Isaacs was equal to the task when he stopped the third kick that was taken by a tired-looking Yearwood and sparked off celebrations with another splendid save from the fifth and final kick, this time from Kingston, to send WSS into their third successive final.
This will be played on Sunday, August 3 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, where they will face their nemesis CWSS, who also used penalty kicks to defeat another determined side in Bush Lot Secondary in their semifinal fixture at Burnham Park, New Amsterdam yesterday. The two losing semifinalists will meet in the third place playoff.

(By Calvin Roberts)