KFC Intl Goodwill Schools Football Tournament…

CHASE Academy, who this year captured the Milo Schools Football Title and the Republic Bank Schools League Cup, will have a chance to take the treble today at the Ministry of Education ground, when they face off against Trinidad’s St. Benedict’s College in the KFC international goodwill secondary schools football championship.

The two captains faced off on Saturday at KFC’s Vlissingen Road branch to share their expectations for the highly-anticipated match-up.
Captain of St. Benedict’s Darrel Garcia says they will give Chase their respect, but will play hard to take home the title, while his opponent, Bryan Wharton, after thanking the organiser for putting together the tournament, said they came out to play their style of football, and their focus is on their game, and they are prepared to play their game and do what they do best; win.
In the semi-final on Friday evening, St. Benedict’s tackled Annai Secondary whom they defeated, 3-1.

St. Benedict’s had early goals from Jelani Scott in the 8th and 20th minutes before Annai’s Guy Moses gave the ‘Interior’ side their first goal in the encounter in the 44th minute.
However, St Benedict’s Derrel Garcia would score late in the second half to seal the contest, 3-1, and secure their place in the finals later today.

Defending champions Clarendon College, who were unbeaten since their 2023 campaign on Guyana’s soil, were stopped by the imperious Chase Academy in a high-scoring thriller, 5-4.
Clarendon College opened the scoring six minutes into the contest, but goals followed from Chase’s Neeiaz Baksh in the 23rd minute, and Bryan Wharton’s in the 25th minute helped them mount a successful comeback to lead, 2-1.

Clarendon College’s top marksman Nicholy Forbes, who is the tournament’s leading scorer, then came to the fore in the 49th to level the scores, 2-2.
Chase’s prolific striker Omar Sam then registered a hat-trick of goals in the 47th, 61st and 67th minutes, as Chase started to find their rhythm and confidence after indifferent play in the first half.

Clarendon College, desperate to reclaim their title, saw goals off the boots of Chevon Richardson in the 71st and Joshua Thom in the 90th minute, but the home side tightened their defence and secured their birth to the final on Sunday at the Carifesta Avenue ground.

The tournament featured eight teams from four Caribbean nations, namely four from Guyana, two from Trinidad, with one each from Jamaica and Suriname competing in a round-robin format.

The teams were divided into two groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-final stage for the coveted trophy.
The winning school will earn 1 million dollars for the first place, with $600,000 for second place and $400,000 for third place, along with trophies and medals