THERE is an old saying in Guyana, “When you catch a pakoo, bus e back and pack it wid salt.”

Such was evident yesterday at the Ministry of Education and All Saints ground in Berbice, where Dolphin Secondary School caught their own pakoo in Marian Academy, whose back they packed 15 bags of salt into, while New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) did the same to Port Mourant 22 times as action in this year’s Digicel nationwide Schools Football Championships continued.
Leon Richardson, Shamar Wilson and Samuel Hunte all scored hat-tricks for Dolphin, who also got double strikes from Joel Pollard and Toquan Clarke along with solitary strikes from Akeem Pompey, Shawn Collins and Milton Henry for their compelling win, with Damani Thomas scoring Marian’s solitary goal.
For NATI, Shamar Richards scored seven goals, Gerald Walton and Dequan Williams helmet-tricks each, Shemar Walters a hat-trick, Marvin Apollo a brace and single strikes for Michael Vaughn and Ronnison Nitcher.
Richardson opened the scoring in the 8th minute, after see-saw exchanges between the two sides were the order of the day within the first five minutes, with Clarke sending a powerful shot wide of the Carifesta Avenue-based Marian Academy’s goal area.
Two minutes after Richardson’s strike, Pollard scored his first of two goals, by working his way into the opposition’s defence and beating their custodian Joshua Klavtky with a well-placed right-foot shot, which was further complemented by Henry’s goal, six minutes later.
Thomas, his younger brother Diarra and their skipper Hakeem Forde were the heroes of their team’s first-round win over Central High at the same venue last week, but struggled to find a rhythm in the forward position, making Thomas unable to give Marian Academy the impetus they needed to drive for a victory.
To compound matters further, Richardson eluded his mark inside his own half and broke away with a loose ball in the 20th minute, before he patted the ball past an advancing Klavtky to make it 4-0, a score that was increased by one 16 minutes later, when he (Richardson) completed his hat-trick.
At lemon time, Dolphin had a comfortable 7-0 cushion over their opponents, as Wilson, who missed several goal-scoring opportunities within a five-minute period, made amends with a ripper from the left of the box in the 39th minute and Clarke got his first of two, two minutes before the lemon-time whistle sounded.
Five minutes after play resumed for second-half action, Pollard got his first goal and within a 20-minute period, Dolphin added six more, with goals coming off the boots of Hunte (52nd, 54th), Clarke (56th), Collins (60th) and Wilson in the 65th and 70th minutes respectively.
It was such a one-sided affair, that Dolphin custodian Malachi Nelson had little or no work to do throughout his team’s 90 minutes demolition of their opponents, save for three times in the first half and a mere two in the second when he was called upon to deflect free kicks from Damani Thomas and Liam Fraites on either side of the lemon-time whistle.
The hard work put in by the elder Thomas paid off, when he rose above the defence to head home a well-taken corner kick from Fraites in the 76th minute, ensuring Nelson did not leave the venue with a clean sheet.
But his goal only woke up Dolphin’s goal scoring appetite, as Hunte completed his hat-trick with a powerful right-footer in the 83rd minute; a goal that was scored from just inside Marian’s half, with the ball curving its way around a hapless Klavtky and nestling at the back of the net.
In Berbice, Richards found the back of the net in the 10th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 40th, 53rd and 72bd minutes, Walton did so in the 16th, 23rd, 55th and 76th, Dequan Williams in the 21st, 22nd, 24th and 64th, Walters in the 38th, 41st and 77th, Apollo in the 1st and 78th while Nitcher and Vaughn scored in the 12th and 68th minutes respectively to help their team record the largest margin of victory in this year’s tournament.
In other matches, Covent Garden beat Craig 5-1, Kingston and Uitvlugt edged Morgan’s Learning Centre and Patentia 2-1 respectively, Hope Secondary got past Bygeval 3-1 and Mackenzie High gained a walkover from New Silvercity.