Sports: Football, Basketball, Cricket & the Strong Man Competition
Good evening, I’m James Adderly and this is Sports Monday.
It was always going to be a tense affair inside the MCC Grounds for Game 2 of the PLB semi-finals as both combinations came in yesterday tied in goal aggregate after Belmopan Bandits got a 2-1 home win against a competitive Belize Defence Force. For the B.D.F. a draw would not do while Belmopan would be quite content with a stalemate which would provide them the ticket to the championship round. Belmopan Bandits take control of the action early as Humberto Requeña looks for the far corner of the B.D.F. goal with this right foot splice that forced a necessary touch from goalkeeper Tevin Gamboa. Elroy Smith then launches this set piece into the danger zone and it does provide some work for Mr. Gamboa. The bandits continue to dominate and this left foot launch from last week’s goal scorer Kerwin Johnson almost opens the scoreboard. He’s disappointed and should be. Captain Elroy Smith looks to get the necessary away goal off this set piece but puts the ball too close to the wall. Folks here’s a bad decision by goalkeeper Gamboa. He comes off his line and takes down Jerome James inside the box and the referee rules penalty. Tevin gets the opportunity to neutralize his error when Elroy Smith steps for the penalty kick. It’s not a well placed penalty and Gamboa does get his mitts on it but it’s not enough to deny the Belmopan Bandits a 1 – zip lead at the 45th minute. Not unexpectedly the Bandits go defensive after intermission. The B.D.F. begin to press and this effort from Leon Cadle almost pays off but the Belmopan defense get a lucky break. On the next press Cadle somehow finds Ricky Ricketts who squanders a golden opportunity. 
For sure Leon Cadle came to play and when he is presented with this chance to score he makes the most of it beating Shan Orio to make it a 1 – 1 ballgame at the 78th minute. This forces the Bandits to go offensive and now Jerome Jenkins fails to double the Bandits lead is a mystery. In the meantime Ian Gaynair is not too far off with this header in an attempt to secure the Bandits win. Kerwin Johnson then sets up Marlon Mesa perfectly and Mesa misses from pointblank range. Nevertheless Belmopan Bandits move on with the 1 – 1 tie after defeating the B.D.F. in game 1 last week. The Bandits will face Placencia Assassins for the 2016 Closing Title who came up with a remarkable game at the Norman Broaster Stadium yesterday against the heavily favored Police United. Placencia came up with 3 – 2 win to match the Police win in game one forcing the match into overtime. In fact the series was decided on penalty kicks – both teams after missing the 1st penalty kicks went for 7 straight. The Assassins scored the 9th while the Police missed and we congratulate Placencia Assassins who will now face Belmopan Bandits for the title. Game 1 is set for Saturday night inside the Michael Aschroft stadium, Independence.
In other football news U-13 action at the Orange Walk technical on Saturday saw Tillett Young School beat Black Water 1 – nil, Orange Walk Central Stars got past Corozal Rising Stars in a 1 – nil affairs and Maggie’s Vibes Alive routed Trial Farm Black Water 5 – zip. In U-19 play ITVET took the OW title with a 1 – nil win over Carmelita.
In Cricket Belize emerged with top honors from the 3 country International friendly featuring Belize, Panama and Costa Rica that got off on Thursday at Lords Bank. We say good show to team Belize who the win by beating Panama 140 to 139 with 3 wickets to spare.
Now let’s check in on the strong man competition staged yesterday at the B.T.L. Park which attracted a throng of fans. Oyinkro Akpobador was truly impressive in the show of strength and he certainly turned heads. Victor Valencia was able to hang on to 2nd place and James Jones settled for 3rd. In the female side Cricel Castillo took 1st place over China Alvarez. Only 2 females answered the call.
In the meantime the 5th annual Ariel Rosado Belize Ride left Galen University at 6:00 AM on Saturday and finished at 1:00 PM at the Hour Bar here in Belize Coty. Ariel Rosado was a rising star on the cycling scene when his life was cut short in a motor vehicle accident.
Finally the NEBL news, the 4 team playoffs get underway Thursday night at Capital City where the Belmopan Bandits will host the 2 time defending champions and the #3 seed San Pedro Tigersharks and on Saturday out at the Island this 2 game series comes to a conclusion when the Tigersharks play host to the Bandits. Listen people this will be a most interesting pair of ballgame. Meanwhile on Friday night in Belize City the #4 seed Dangriga warriors will take aim at the #1 see Smart Belize Hurricanes and then travel to Dangriga for game 2 on Saturday night. Hurricanes are the favorite going in but it’s never over till it’s over. The 2 series winners will then move on to the championship round. Enjoy.
Jah overall, I’m James Adderley.
