Joseph hits double for Waramadong

-sets up Boxing Day clash with Charlestown in Buxton

FOLLOWING their contrasting victories in last Saturdays’ round 16 action at the Georgetown Football Club ground, Waramadong and Charlestown Secondary Schools have booked an engagement against each other in the quarterfinals of the Kashif and Shanghai/Chico Elite Generation Next football championships, on Boxing Day in Buxton.Charlestown needed a 5-4 ‘Sudden Death’ penalty kicks win to dispose of a game Dolphin Secondary School unit, following a 2-2 scoreline at the end of full time, while pre-tournament favourites Waramadong found a composed North Georgetown lineup to be a difficult hurdle, before they crossed same with a 2-0 win, thanks to a double from Lyndel Joseph.
In the first encounter of the day’s double header, Charlestown, who defeated Lodge Secondary in their first round clash, opened the scoring in the 11th minute when their skipper and inspirational midfielder Shane Morris beat Dolphin’s custodian Dante Forde to his right from just outside the 18 yard box.
This was after he received a pass from Omari James, who got a through ball from Josiah Charles, but had no room to shoot, hence he was forced to display an unselfish act by finding an unmarked Morris at the top of the box, who made no mistake with his first time shot.
Dakhawn Matthew, who played in the midfield position for Dolphin, had the opportunity to level the score five minutes after Morris’ strike, but he chose to dribble one defender too many, hence he was dispossessed by the hard working Trevor Jones, who marshalled Charlestown defence amicably well.
Jones got support at the back from Aroydy Branford, Jaleel Evans and Ravin Naughton, while at the top, Morris, Charles and James tried to penetrate Dolphins’ defence which was held together by Emile Cosbert, Joseph McKenzie and Shawn Collins.
Following an epic see-saw battle at both ends of the field, Samuel Hunte ensured Dolphin took the lemon time whistle comfortably, when he found the back of the net in the 40th minute, after Joel Pollard had worked his way deep into Charlestown’s third and found him unmarked on the last post.
The goal brought back wind into Dolphin’s sails and it was evident in the way they outran and outplayed Charlestown, even though they (Dolphin) lost the services of Lenroy Forde two minutes into the second half, when he was expelled from the contest by referee Dion Inniss for dangerous play.
Many felt that with Dolphin playing with one player less, they would have gone on the defensive, but instead they continued to attack Charlestown relentlessly in search of the go ahead goal, outplaying their opponents at midfield instead.
Once again, it was Hunte who scored for them, wherein he found the back of the net from the same spot that Morris had scored his goal, only this time Charlestown’s custodian Mervin Carter tripped in his attempt to execute the save in the 62nd minute of play.
This was after both Charles and James missed the opportunity to send Charlestown into the lead, with both players missing open goals within a 10 minutes period.
Charles made amends for his early blunders, when he drilled one home from midway inside Dolphin’s half in the 82nd minute, sparking off celebrations on and off the field of play, while at the same time sending the game into penalty kicks shoot out, where he once again missed a crucial kick.
With the scores reading 4-3 in favour of Charlestown, Charles stepped up to take the final kick for his team which would have sealed the win, but sent his shot into the cross bar, giving Dolphin a glimmer of hope.
Sudden death shootout became the order of the day and with Naughton scoring for Charlestown, up stepped Joshua Pereira to try and level things for Dolphin, but his shot to Prince went over the bar and while he sat on the ground with his face buried in his hands, a jubilant Charlestown was celebrating their 5-4 win on the other side of the field.
In the feature game, many felt that Waramadong, based on their performances in the three Digicel nationwide schools tournament to date, would have walked over North Georgetown easily, based on the loud cheers that erupted when they took the field, and even during their numerous raids in the first half.
Digicel’s 2013 Most Valuable Player Whazir Bascombe gave his teammates, on and off the field along with their numerous supporters, something to shout about when he found the back of the net in the 10th minute, only to see the linesman on the far side signaling half side.
A tense first half ensued after, as North Georgetown asserted themselves and made their opponents work very hard for the ball, especially after the introduction of Curtis Adams, who was listed to start but arrived late. The scoreline read nil all at halftime and in the second half, North Georgetown continued to put up a stern resistance to their more illustrious opponents, with Akeem Adams, Kemuel Moses, Christopher Waddell and Nehemiah Gomes doing yeoman service in defence to withhold the attacks of Bascombe and Joseph.
At the other end of the field, Waramadong’s defence which was led by their custodian and skipper Gerald Isaacs along with Herbert George, Jasee Morris, Dix Thompson and Henton Browne were forced to work hard to thwart the efforts of Adams, Lansdale George and Joshua Ferreira.
A blunder by North Georgetown’s custodian handed Waramadong the lead in the 73rd minute, when Joseph found the back of the net and while they were still in the stage of recovery, Joseph engaged himself in a one-two play with Bascombe in their midfield, from which he fired a shot to beat North Georgetown’s custodian on his near post in the 87th minute to give Waramadong a 2-0 lead.
The two victors will meet on Boxing Day in a quarterfinal clash at the Buxton Community Centre ground, for a place in Sunday’s semi-final.

(By Calvin Roberts)