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December 12th 2002
This
playoff turned into the playoff of upsets, the underdogs came out
on top. By the end of the quarterfinal’s rounds three of the top four teams were out
and back in street clothes being spectators.
The
first game of the night NO. 1 seed Park side (1) vs. No.8
seed L.H (2). L.H
came out attacking and before Park side could settle down and get
into a rhythm Isah Sanchez put L.H ahead (1-0). Parkside kept their composure and knocked
the ball around well this enabled them to tie the score and go into
the half (1-1) thanks to Almoth Hoyte, his third of the tournament. L.H was not to be denied tonight, they kept
the pressure on throughout the second half and two minutes before
the final whistle Sanchez found the back of the net for a
second time.
The second
game NO. 2 seed Taliban (0) lost to NO. 7 seed JJ Youths
(2). Taliban came out
attacking in full force once again and had numerous opportunities
but just could not strike gold.
It was on one of those rear occasions that the ball was in
Taliban half of the field that Calvin Garcia was able to
take full advantage and put JJ Youths ahead (1-0) in the first half.
Taliban came out with their full arsenal in the second half
moving all the troops forward looking for the equalizer and left
an open goal post in the backfield only for Kerry Celestine
to capitalize and put JJ Youths up (2-0). This sent Taliban to sit alongside Park side
while JJ Youths moved on to the semifinal round.
The
third game saw NO. 3 seed Cushite (1) defeat NO. 6 seed Baseline
(1). Cushite was the
only of the top four seeds to advance but had to go into sudden
death then pentitley kicks to do so.
The score was tied (0-0) at the end of a quiet first half.
Cushite went ahead early in the second thanks to Kevin
Stephen but midway into the half Baseline equalized via Weigh
Reece. The game went into sudden death then pentitley
kicks, Cushite won the coin toss and made their first pentitley count,
Baseline was less fortunate with their shot hitting the upright
and bouncing out of bounds, it also bounced them out of the semifinals
but by now most fan support was behind the Nos. 7 & 8 seeds.
The fourth
game featured NO. 4 seed College Boys (0) and NO. 5 seed
Vasco (1). College
Boys played a very strong game they passed the ball well but lacked
finishing. Vasco had sporadic breaks an on one of these
breaks found the back of the net in the first half via Wesley. They then settled in and played defense with
all four men back, maintaining that (1-0) margin. The semifinals were set with two undefeated
teams but the underdogs had all the fan support and this seemed
to intensify their momentum.
The
first semifinal game between Vasco (0) and L.H (3)
saw L.H jump out to an early lead with a goal by Isah Sanchez
that rattled Vasco and they never recovered.
L.H with the fans screaming them on went into another gear
and added two more goals in the second half by Sean Eizebe
and Teddy Lewis. This win secured a position in the medal round
for the NO. 8 seed.
By
the time of the second semifinal game featuring Cushite (1)
and JJ Youths (2), the NO. 7 seed JJ Youths had all the support, they came into the game on
turbo and produced the fastest goal of the tournament in six seconds
it took four touches after the whistle for Junior Bonos to
find the back of the net. Cushite
kept their composure and went into the half tied (1-1) thanks to
Stephen Cudjoe. Both teams came out attacking in the second
half, a breakdown in Cushite defense allowed Odell Joefield
to take full advantage and put YY Youths ahead for good. This sent the crowd into frenzy and chanting
“DEFENSE” it also allowed JJ Youths to bring all four guys back
on defense to secure the remaining spot in the championship game.
The
final game of the tournament between JJ Youths (4) and L.H
(2) started off with a lot of energy in the gym and it took
a few minutes before both teams could settle down, JJ Youths were
the first to strike gold from a beauty by Kerry Celestine,
tournament MVP. Oba Lewis also found the back of the
net a few minutes later this had the spectators jumping and shouting. L.H started the second half looking to get
back into the game and soon pulled one back thanks to Sean Eizebe
but soon found themselves down by two goals again when Oba Lewis
got his second of the match to make it a (3-1) affair. L.H scored
again making it (3-2) but Dwayne Thomas dashed any hopes
of a comeback when he put the ball between the uprights with only
a few minutes left in the game. JJ Youths held on to a (4-2) victory.
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