Through sheer willpower and determination, Carmel produced one of the most stunning comebacks in the tournament’s history to book their final spot by beating DC Caesar Fox on penalties (3-2) after fulltime and extra time failed to produce a winner. Playing in front of a massive crowd at the Ministry of Education ground, on Wednesday afternoon, Carmel went down 3-0 in the first half with Carrington Isaacs (20’), Robaldo Johnson (22’) and Bevon Jones (24’) netting for DC Caesar Fox.

It looked as though their Championship journey was over but Carmel rallied in the second half with Shem James scoring twice (55’ & 59’) in the space of five minutes to make it 3-2. With 19 minutes to go, Anthonio Isaacs (71’) made it 4-2 to all but seal the deal for DC Caesar Fox. However, James then completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute then Carmel’s young star, Ian Daniels (85’) pulled the scores level to the delight of the fans.

Robaldo Johnson netted just 4 minutes into the first half of extra time to send DC Caesar Fox 5-4 up. Four minutes from the final whistle, Daniels completed his brace to level it again as Carmel tied the game to send it to penalties. DC Caesar Fox’s first two penalties were cleanly taken as were Carmel’s but the following two were off target, with a final spot at stake, young Omarion Atkinson stepped up and calmly slotted home to send the Carmel fans into a frenzy.

Meanwhile, in semi-final two, St. Ignatius eased to a comfortable 3-1 win over Waramuri Primary Top to confirm the final match-up. The first half was a battle of the midfield with neither side gaining any clear advantage and the scoreline remained 0-0 by the half-time whistle. As has been the trend of recent, the second half provided a flurry of action, as St. Ignatius finally wore down Waramuri’s defence to go 2-0 up through Romel Ernest (52’) and Morgan Toruma (55’).

Not to be undone, Waramuri pulled one back in the 68th minute (through Danesh Williams) to make things interesting. Ernest scored another in the 75th minute to restore St. Ignatius’ two goal cushion which saw the game through.

The final, originally slated for the Leonora Track & Field Centre Ground, has been shifted to the Ministry of Education ground following concerns from stakeholders which the organisers and sponsor, the Petra Organisation and Digicel, respectively, paid heed to. The date for the final is August 13 (Sunday) with the third-place playoff between DC Caesar Fox and Waramuri set to begin at 5:00 pm. The Grand finale which will see Carmel face St. Ignatius Secondary, will kick-off at 7:00 pm.