Vryman’s Erven Secondary clash with BEI in Regional final today

By Colin Bynoe Jr

THE Region 6 leg of Digicel Schools Football tournament will culminate with its grand Regional final set for today at the Burnham Park ground.
It started with twenty teams who were drawn from the Region 6 area. Most of the matches were keenly contested. Teams battled their way to victories even in unfavourable weather conditions. It’s now down to two teams, first time finalists Berbice Educational Institute (BEI) and 2014 Regional Champions Vryman’s Erven Secondary (VESS). Both teams are highly favoured and a ding-dong battle is expected.
For BEI, they kicked their way into the final by defeating a stubborn Corentyne Comprehensive High (CCH) on Tuesday in the first semifinal.
The match was played at Burnham Park; due to overnight rain the pitch was somewhat soggy. BEI fought their way to a 1-0 lead by halftime, compliments of a 24th minute goal off the boot of Cleon Smith.
At the resumption of the second half, Corentyne Comprehensive High (CCH) wasted early opportunities to penetrate the goal. BEI capitalised and ran the game at a faster pace. They added two late goals in the 82nd and 88th minutes. By this time CCH’s hopes had faded as it was evident on the faces of the players. The final whistle blew to give BEI the win 3-0.
In the second semifinal which was played yesterday Siparuta Academy fell short to be defeated 2-1. The game was highly rated in the first half; the battle to score was on. Vryman’s Erven Secondary scored first goal in the 7th minute, off the boot of Alex Ogleton.
By this time the players from both units were hustling and bustling on a muddy Burnham Park. Siparuta Academy responded nicely in the 15th minute to equalise.
At the half-time stage the score was one-all.
Most of the players at both ends of the field were visibly covered in mud; this showed their determination. The whistle blew for the resumption of the second half with the score locked at one. Sipraruta had multiple ball possession opportunities in their half, to spark periodic excitement amongst the fans, but they wasted them.
In a manner that snuffed the gas out of Siparuta, Vryman’s Erven received a freak run of play. The ball was cleared to striker Alex Ogleton as he received it then worked his way towards goal. Three Siparuta defenders were evidently put off by a soggy section of the pitch. The ball landed in the area giving Ogleton a perfect sight of goal.
He blasted in his team’s second goal in what remained the winning moment of the match
. For Siparuta it was a sad way to end their exciting campaign. Vryman’s Erven Secondary were all smiles as they moved towards the final today at Burnham Park from15:00hrs.
It is expected that a large crowd will witness the encounter. Both teams are from the New Amsterdam area. Who will it be?