Football, basketball, cycling tops weekend sports
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and thanks for allowing me into your living rooms for another fresh dish of Sports Monday. The Belize Premier Football League opened its annual semi-pro season over the weekend with all eight teams seeing action. Here in Belize City we were treated to a clash between former champions Kulture Yabra, hosted Juventus of Orange Walk.
Right off the whistle, Deon Flowers finds Kareem Haylock; whose right foot offering poses a big time threat until Shane Moody successfully intervenes.
Meanwhile, Deon “Pussy” Flowers certainly impresses his former team, Yabra, with this individual effort that should have seen a better finish. Make it three serious scoring attempts for Juventus of Orange Walk when Flowers pushes to Castellanos, who makes Shane Moody go to work.
In fact, we have to admit that in the first half Deon Flowers looks like the most prepared athlete on the field, but still has no goal to show.
And as we approach intermission, we’ll have to call this a Yabra highlight, and to Raul Celiz we must say that the idea is to go above or around the wall. So, we have a nil-nil score at the half.
In second half Yabra gets a little more offensive, but Emory Nunez does everything right except get the pill between the sticks.
On this play, we must ask Deon Flowers if he knows when to shoot because he certainly squanders a golden opportunity.
It’s getting late, so Yabra sends for super-striker Norman “Tilliman” Nunez, who creates immediate excitement with this well executed spotkick.
Still folks, after ninety minutes of action featuring twenty-eighth players in total, Kulture Yabra and Juventus settle for a scoreless draw in their opener for the 2003 season.
In other results from around the league, Sagitun of Independence, the defending champion, blanked Griga United 2-zip Saturday night, while sub-champion Builder’s Hardware Bandits bombed Real Verdes 3-1. However, the match-up between the San Pedro Seahawks and Jacintoville of Toledo did not materialise as the team from P.G. was not ready for prime time, they will be in a short time. Thus, this game is being treated as a pack match set for August thirty-first.
In other football news, the Benque Viejo Fiesta brings international football to Belize, although no Belizean teams will be involved in the outing since the B.P.F.L. teams are not affiliated to the F.F.B., who are the representatives of FIFA and CONCACAF…blah, blah, blah. This Saturday’s schedule looks like this: at four p.m. Verdes takes on the San Pedro Seahawks and at six p.m. Comunicaciones and Aurora of Guatemala take the field against each other. Marconi Sosa of Benque has informed us that both teams are bringing their “A” class players to the fray, so we expect to see a truly international display of football out at the Benque Fiesta.
Turning to the basketball scene, we don’t know what the problem is with the semi-pro league, but for a second week in a row, the official stats remain elusive to us. Nevertheless, we go directly to the tip off for Friday night’s outing at the City Centre. Maurice Bullock of B.T.L. Nets jumps against Andrew Robateau of Bryant’s Tennents and we’re underway.
Tonight Keith Acosta has the feeling, so he lights it up from outside. But Rennick Reneau is also on fire as he answers from long distance for Bryant’s. Of course, when they do meet in a one on one clash, Acosta greets Reneau with absolute abuse.
Down by ten, Bryant’s go to Rupert Brown, who swishes for three. Darwin Leslie then demonstrates his acrobatic skills to cut the lead to one. And it’s more Darwin Leslie when he sinks his second three of the ballgame.
But hold everything, Andrew Robateau gets the perfect pass from Rupert Brown and the slam dunk is in effect as Bryant’s take an eight point lead.
And then Darwin Leslie goes to the bank for a mighty two points. At the half, the young Bryant’s team is up by all of sixteen points.
Hey Reneau, you’re really ambitious going into the heart of the forest, for which he gets hammered. But Andrew Robateau stays with the pill to rack up two points and the foul, which he would convert.
Down by sixteen points, B.T.L. Nets get busy. Keith Acosta displays his improved ball handling skills to pick up two points and the foul. And B.T.L. feeds off the trap that forces Darwin Leslie to cough up the pill for Keith Acosta to mash it home for two points.
Ask yourself: does the trap work? Well Bovell and Charlie Thompson combine to force this turnover and it’s two more points for B.T.L.
Who dares to awake the sleeping giant you say, well he is up now, and Bullock delivers. Now watch this throw-in in pressure time; Bovell reads, steals and deals to Keith Acosta for a three-point swing.
By the way coach Norman Lamb, too many turnovers in money time at this level of play will certainly crush you.
Bovell with another steal finds A.C. Augustine who scores and we’re tied at seventy-six apiece.
And this is how Bryant’s lost that battle Friday night. Andrew Robateau grabs the rebound, but he is stripped by Bullock, who lays it off the glass as B.T.L. Nets post its third season victory in an 85-81 final score.
In cycling news, Santino’s Bike Land Masters series concluded yesterday with the eighth and final event, a sixty-five mile ride from Hummingbird Hershey in the Valley Hills in Dangriga to the Constitution Park here in Belize City.
This three-man breakaway of Ray Catt, Robert Mariano, and Charlie Lewis ran all the way from mile thirteen to the Constitution Park here in Belize City where the finish was set up.
At sprint time Charlie Lewis beats Ray Catt for the big W, but he doesn’t have enough points to give him the overall Master title, that honour goes to Ray Cattouse. Charlie Lewis settles for second, Robert Mariano third, Lindy Gillette fourth and Santino the chief, the oldest man on the roster, rounds out the top five.
On the female side, Fiona Humes took the Masters title forcing Anamarie Bennett into second and Sheena Castillo into third. You know we had a hefty dish of sports, so we gonna call it right now, that’s it, thanks to our cameramen for their great work. Jah over all! I’m James Adderley.
