THE final four teams to contest this year’s semifinals of the ExxonMobil Linden Under 18 schools football championship were decided last Sunday,
The teams in the New Era Entertainment-organised tournament were decided when the final two Group ‘B’ matches of the competition were played at the Wisburg Secondary School ground in Wismar, Linden.
Group ‘A’ saw the advancement of the unbeaten Linden Technical Institute with three wins and Linden Foundation Secondary who finished with six points, after two victories and one loss.

Mackenzie High School (MHS) were in a ‘must-win’ situation to secure a safe passage to the final four, and they were on target from as early as the 13th minute when Emmanuel Skeete netted to give them the lead.

It was 2-0 as Delvern Chapman doubled it for MHS in the 29th, as the first half ended.

Zimroy Larose soon after play resumed, increased the advantage for the MHS side when he scored in the 38th minute, before teammate Kymani Mackenzie put the match out of reach for their opponents, with a 48th minute strike for a 4-0 cushion.

However, Kwakwani would pull one back when they scored on the 63rd minute of play, through Kishan Leacock.
However, when the final whistle was blown, MHS booked the top spot with five points after one win and two drawn games.

Wisburg and New Silvercity played to a 1-1 result, which allowed the home team to grab the second slot in Group ‘B’, from one win and two drawn games, similar to Mackenzie High School.
James Ellsworth gave the lead to New Silvercity in the 57th minute, but Wisburg would equalise through Rasheed Bobbsemple in the 63rd minute, and the game petered out to a 1-1 stalemate.

But Mackenzie High School had a better record scoring six goals and conceding three, while Wisburg netted two fewer goals than MHS, four goals and giving away three goals as MHS.

Relieved by the result, the Mackenzie High School football coach Maurice Cummings, after the game, quipped, “I’m proud that our Mackenzie High School football team has secured a well-earned 4–1 victory over Kwakwani Secondary, booking our spot in the semifinals of the ExxonMobil Tournament.”
The boys showed exceptional discipline, teamwork, and school pride on the field. Every goal was a statement of their hard work and dedication.”

Finishing third were Kwakwani on three points from one win and two defeats with the bottom team being New Silvercity who ended on two points from one draw, two defeats.

The semifinals are set for Saturday afternoon at the Wisburg Secondary School ground.
Meanwhile, the eight schools contesting the tournament were last Saturday presented with new uniforms.
ExxonMobil’s Community Relations Adviser for Public and Government Affairs, Ryan Hoppie, was present at the Wisburg Secondary School ground to hand over the new uniforms to each of the participating schools.
These eight schools were Linden Foundation Secondary, Linden Technical Institute, Christianburg Wismar Secondary, Harmony Secondary, Mackenzie High, Wisburg Secondary, Kwakwani Secondary and New Silvercity Secondary Schools.