By Ras Wadada

THE cream of the country’s Under 18 footballers will be on show this evening at the Leonora Stadium when the semi-finals of this year’s DIGICEL nationwide schools football KO Tournament is staged.The annual competition has been dominated by the Wismar/Christianburg Secondary over the last four years and tonight they put their title on line against, first timer to the last four, Sir Leon Lessons (SLL) in the feature match.
The first semi-final will bring together Chase Academy and Bush Lot Secondary who could be considered the underdogs of the final four.
The star-studded Chase Academy unit had to work overtime in their quarter-final to get past Annai Secondary 2-1 on a sandy pitch in Lethem last Sunday while Bush Lot disposed of Soesdyke Secondary 3-1 last Monday at the Leonora Stadium.
The Vurlon Mills coached team on their way have so far accumulated a record 53 goals while conceding just two, and with seven members of the National U-17 in their line up must be considered the favorite for this contest
. The West Coast Berbice team will need another hat trick performance from their top forward Titus Webster and midfield creativity from Captain Kevin Felix and Jermaine Perreira against what must be their stiffest opposition.
In a pre-game comment Mills declared, ”Although we might be the favorite to beat Bush Lot the game still has to be played on the day, so we are turning up to play as we have been doing all season.
We will be going after them from the very first whistle, giving them very little room to play, while we will penetrate the flanks. Our burning desire and ambition is to win the Cup and that is what keeps us winning. We are two games away from the title”.
On their way to today’s semi-final the Chase Academy defeated; Tucville Secondary 10-0, GITC 25-0, Sir Morgan 3-1, Bishops High 13-0 and Annai Secondary 2-1. It is the third year in the competition for the City school who lost last year’s final.
National U-17 Captain, Jeremy Garrett will spearhead the unit that also includes U-17 Nationals, Sese Norville, Cecil Jackman, Nicholas McArthur, Rondell Peters, Daniel Floy as well as the talented Roshan Ritch and Kelsie Benjamin.
For Bush Lot it is also their 2nd semi-final appearance after their first,when they stretched the Cup holders into a Penalty shoot-out before surrendering two years ago.
This year they have beaten; Novar Secondary on Penalty kicks after a 1-1 stalemate, Mahaicony Secondary 4-3, Mahdia Secondary via Penalties after a goal-less draw and Soesdyke Secondary 3-1.
Coach John Gordon was equally confident of a win in his pre-game view, “We have been training very hard this year. We know that Chase is not an easy team, but I am confident the boys will come out successful”.
Meanwhile coach of the defending champions, Anthony ‘Toto’ Stephens believes his side is nearing their peak, “During the course of the tournament the team has matured mentally and as we get closer to the big one the side is gelling better and nearing their peak.
I don’t expect an easy game because any team that qualifies for the semis must have been performing and have some quality
. We don’t take teams for granted. We always go out and give our best to win games. I am positive come Sunday, we will be contesting our 6th consecutive final in search of our 5th crown. The players are hungry and want to be part of that rich traditional history and achievement of the school in DIGICEL schools football”, Stephens revealed.
His opposite from Sir Leon Lessons (SLL), Leon Muir, the former Camptown and National defender, thinks his squad will end the unbeaten run of the champions, “It is going to be a challenging game, one that I have been looking forward to since last year.
After we were embarrassingly eliminated from the semi-finals for playing an over aged player I decided I will take full control this year and so far we have had a successful run. We are out to stop the winning track of Wismar/ Christianburg. There is no if or but, we are confident of the victory”, Muir stated.
The last and only team to beat Wismar/Christianburg Secondary in the history of the annual DIGICEL schools football KO tournament is the Government Technical Institute and that was 5-3 in the inaugural final in 2011.
The mining town secondary school will be spearheaded in attack by National U-17 Omar Brewley, Amar Jones and their top goal scorer Brian Johnson while the defence will be marshalled by national U-17 Javier Smith alongside Keshon Dey. On the way, the Cup holders dismissed; Linden Foundation Secondary 6-0, New Silver City Secondary 2-0, Kwakwani Secondary 1-0, Mabaruma Secondary via Penalty kicks after a 0-0 end and Tutorial High 6-0.
The SLL team netted a whopping 48 goals and allowed in 3 in their five outings with Keifa Brandt and David George being the top marksmen.
Among their victims are; Sophia Trade school 6-0,Charlestown Secondary by a walk over, South Georgetown High 21-1, Lodge Secondary 15-0 and D Caesar Fox Secondary (formerly Waramadong Secondary) 3-2.
With all four coaches highly confident and players eager to go out and perform fans can expect two intense and exciting matches where at the end two teams will be celebrating while the other two will be contemplating what went wrong. The first game kicks off at 16:00hrs.