Leonora Primary and St John the Baptist Primary have battled their way to the final of the Courts Optical Boys’ Under-11 Pee-Wee Championship following a tense, high-stakes day of semi-final action at the Ministry of Education Ground.
Both sides were pushed to the limit, with the drama of penalty shootouts proving decisive in the earlier quarter-final rounds to set up the eagerly anticipated championship clash scheduled for Saturday, November 1.
In the first semi-final, St John the Baptist, from Bartica, defeated Redeemer Primary 2-0. Alex Pearson broke the deadlock in the 17th minute, before Aaron Christian sealed the win with a goal in the 35th minute.
The second semi-final saw Leonora Primary edge out former champions West Ruimveldt 1-0.
The decisive moment came in the 33rd minute when Chrison Austin converted to send Leonora to the final.
Earlier, the quarter-finals provided edge-of-the-seat drama, with two ties going down to the wire, as in the case of Redeemer, which secured a narrow 1-0 win against St Pius, thanks to an early 1st-minute strike from Aaron Lall.
More so, St John the Baptist progressed after a 0-0 draw with St Gabriel’s, winning the resulting penalty shootout 3-0.
The tie between Tucville and Leonora finished level at 2-2 (Leonora scorers: Chrison Austin 28th, Adrian Harry 38th; Tucville scorers: Roger Jason 10th, Dominic Dickson 36th), with Leonora ultimately triumphing 3-1 on penalty kicks.
Additionally, West Ruimveldt comfortably beat Agatash 2-0 (Jansen Paris 8th, Yanique Cadogan 15th).
