Barbados cops CFU U-14 Tier II title on penalties

Barbados were crowned champions of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys’ Challenge Series Tier II when they got the better of Bermuda 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw in their 70-minute final at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago on Sunday.

Both teams created a few chances to win the match in regulation time with Bermuda hitting the post and crossbar, and Barbados twice seeing efforts ricochet off the post as the match went into the dreaded penalty kicks.

In the shoot-out, Bermuda converted their first three attempts via Deacon Wade, Solomon Salaam and Carter Thomas while Barbadian Adam King saw his team’s first attempt saved by goalkeeper Xavier-Thomas Bassettt diving low to his left before Sacha Pounder and Amari Small scored for a 2-3 score line.

Barbadian goalkeeper Jamari Watson then kept his team in the match when he saved Bermuda’s fourth attempt from the prolific Jeon Wolfe while Maleek Peters then scored to draw the Bajans level at 3-3 with one attempt each remaining for both teams.

Bermuda’s captain Z’Ani Jennings then buckled under the pressure as his left-footed attempt bounced off the left post providing Barbados with the chance to snatch victory, which captain Jamarco Johnson gladly accepted by scoring his attempt, which deflected off the hands of a diving Bassett and into the net to spark off wild celebrations among his teammates.

In the semifinals at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Friday, Barbados, winner of its round-robin Group A with a maximum of 12 points from four matches, blanked Turks and Caicos, who topped Group B with ten points, 3-0 with a goal each from Small (47th), Trey Barker (53rd) and Peters (62nd) while Bermuda, who topped Group C with a maximum of 12 points as well, hammered Anguilla 6-0 led by a hat-trick from Wolfe (eighth, 21st, 37th), two from Jennings in the sixth and 26th, and Chaz Edmead, the other from the penalty spot in the 68th.

Last night, Jamaica and French Guiana were to face off in the Tier I final at Bacolet after also winning their semifinals at the same venue on Friday over Puerto Rico and host T&T, respectively.

The Jamaicans rallied for a 3-1 win over Puerto Rico after trailing at the half with Kelvin DJ Brown scoring two second-half goals in the 52nd and 70th and Kyle Hussey the other in the 59th after Wilfredo Reyes Rivera converted a penalty kick in the 34th minute, the first goal conceded by Jamaica.

In the second semifinal, French Guiana held off T&T 4-3 with Matheo Francois (eighth), Tyler Hartimo (13th), Enzo Cherica (19th), and Guezo Atoukou (31st) all scoring in the first half for the visitors while Jeremai Nanton (11th), Adasa Richardson (59th) and Jahmiah Gibbs (70th) netted for T&T.

The post Barbados cops CFU U-14 Tier II title on penalties first appeared on CNC3.