Grigamandala makes playoffs with victory over Dolphins
Good evening, I’m James Adderley, welcoming you to this fresh brew of Sports Monday. Grigamandala had only one option yesterday at Dangriga. Beat the San Pedro Dolphins or miss the BFL playoffs. It’s as simple as that. Of course in Belizean football right now nothing comes easy.
In the opening moments of yesterday’s game Malahi Nolberto looks for his ninth goal of the season, but he’ll have to wait for another opportunity.
Francis Arzu then gets his shot at the scoreboard here, but fails to power the pill between the sticks. If you like bloopers the drink in this comedy of erros both on offense and defense it’s entertaining but it has no impact on the score.
Some thirty-seven minutes into the action, Mark Leslie centers into the danger zone and finds Malahi Nolberto and his ninth gives Griga a 1-zip lead.
Six minutes later Alex Cassanova tries the defensive header to Delmar Sutherland, Irwin Flores intercepts and makes the Dolphins pay as Grigamandala takes a 2-zip lead.
Francis Arzu could make it 3-nil here but this time Delmar Sutherland takes care of biz. The Dolphins to come back – this spot kick to Coco Gonzalez is misplayed by Erwin Flores. Christopher Hendrix taps Menalio Vasquez and the end of the first half – Griga’s lead is 2-1.
Immediately after intermission, Grigamandala gets another scoring opportunity when Nolberto centers but again Francis Arzu fails to convert. Still, Arzu is Dangriga’s go-to guy, and to him to go only to see one more scoring opportunity gets squandered.
Of course you’ve heard the adage before – “perseverance pays” – Francis Arzu beats Delmar Sutherland to the ball and smacks it into an open goal for the 3-1 Dangriga lead.
Arzu fianlly realizes he can score and when Mejia centers this ball – it’s Arzu who comes up with the finish to get his second goal to give Griga a commending 4-1 lead.
Meanwhile folks, even if he was elbowed, Nolberto’s obvious punch forces Referee’s Jones to chase him off the field of play. It’s down to nine men for Grigamandala, when Lennox Mejia takes down Oliver Hendrix from behind. It’s his second yellow which means he has to go.
This gives new life to the Dolphin’s and Christopher Hendricks fires this mean power shot at Stanley Reneau, who handles. The Dolphins gets another when Henry is blocked on the shot attempt but the forced push by Christopher Hendricks is good for Dolphin’s second goal – when the long whistle blows it brings a playoff pass for Dangriga with a 4-2 final score.
Coach Garincha Adderley was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
James Adderley
You did not finish the season well, Coach Garincha Adderley, you lost three in a row before you had to win this “must win” game.
Anthony “Garincha” Adderley, Coach, Grigamandala
“James that long stretch that eight games in a row was a lot for the young fellows, but it was good that it came at that time, because we knew that when our backs are pushed against the wall, we’d come out on top and that’s what we did today.”
James Adderley
Your projection on the playoffs, is Dangriga truly a contender or are they big time pretenders?
Anthony “Garincha” Adderley
“We are definitely a contender, our style has caused a lot of changes within the league, we’re a lot faster, we’re a lot quicker, we’re not a team that has been together a long time. Therefore we’ve depended upon our speed, our agility and our stamina, to take us through. And come playoff time we’ll have to step that up a little bit and we’ll have to make a few little adjustment with the way we move the ball around, but am sure that we are a contender.”
The other scores from over the weekend, Sagitun crushed Acros Bombers 8-zip. La Victoria made the playoffs by finding Ambergris Turquoise 1-zip. Real Verdes is also in–they held Belmopan Bandits to 1-1 tie yesterday, while Kulture Yabra dumped three time defending champions Juventus 2-1. The Orange Walk team will not mke the playoffs. The six teams to qualify are Yabra, Sagitun, San Pedro, Grigmandala, Real Verdes and La Victoria.
