Gentle Touch beats Cruz Azul in female football action
Good evening, I’m James Adderley. Welcome to this week’s dish of Sports Monday.
The Female Football League kicked off its 2008 season with three matches featuring the six competing teams over the weekend. We caught up with yesterday’s big showdown out at Esperanza as Gentle Touch played host to Cruz Azul of Belmopan. Immediately Gentle Touch seeks to open the scoring off this center from left wing by Abbi Holiday. That’s collected by Ana Ramirez in goal for Cruz Azul. The home team keeps the pressure on off this set piece which finds this wicked outside shot from Jolene Gentle bouncing off the woodwork. Abbi Holiday then launches this floater at goal and again the goal post intervenes. It’s all Gentle Touch when Cynthia Salazar fires this right foot that beats Ana Ramirez as the home team takes a 1-zip lead. Make it 2-nil when Abbi Holiday gets past the defense to push the pill pas Ramirez. The visitors get a break when goalkeeper Eden Gentle misplays this routine pick-up, Elizabeth Galdanez stays with the play to make it a 2-1 ballgame. However, Gentle Touch comes right back with this power punch from Kimberly Perez that makes it a 3-1 score. No folks, this is not a replay as Perez displays her flashing speed to beat the entire Cruz Azul defense and score her second goal of the match for the 4-1 lead for Cayo. Folks, this match might have been over by half-time, Gentle Touch wasn’t finished yet and indeed Abbi Holiday should have done better with this opportunity. So Holiday makes amends immediately with this left foot that pushes the score to 5-1 in favour of the team from the west. Cruz Azul gets another break when Elizabeth Galdanez is taken down inside the eighteen. Yomaira Galdanez steps up and guess what, she botches the penalty kick. The defending champion, Gentle Touch, looks like a champion on opening day people with the 5-1 big W over Cruz Azul.
In the other matches over the weekend, Sugar City and Millenium of Belize City battled to a 3-3 stalemate while Delille Puma’s blanked Hidden Treasures of Pomona 1-zip.
This weekend’s schedule in the female league finds Cruz Azul hosting Sugary City Girls at Belmopan, Gentle Touch travels to Delille Puma’s at Dangriga, while millennium will see action against Hidden Treasures at the M.C.C. Grounds.
Turning to the cycling scene, we keep the focus on the female athletes as we join Letecia Westby, coordinator of the Female Cross Country Cycle Classic, who will provide us with the latest details.
Letecia Westby, Coordinator, Female Cross Country
“This year we are not having the race on Mother’s Day. It has been changed due to the fact that they originally had planned the Agricultural Show for that weekend and as a result of—or as our concern in regards to the safety of our riders, we had changed it to the twenty-fifth of May. We tried to change it back but you know cycling has a lot of training and the females had already rescheduled their programmes to meet that particular date. It’s the nineteenth running of the SOL Annual Female Cross Country Classic. This year we have had an open invitation for female teams with two or more local riders that they are able to invite a foreign participant on their team; not more than one and we hope to have at three foreigners in regards to attached to a team. Other than that, so far we’ve heard about Lorrie Harkey, who is the wife of Chris Harkey, who as you all know is associated with Achros. She had requested an invitation from the association, she’s not going to be with a team and she’s the only one so far that we had sent out an invitation for. Last year winner, as you all know is Brenda Aguille and we hope that she will return this year. Yeah, we do have about six teams that are actually participating. We’re hoping to have about fifteen riders which will include foreigners. So far we have about eleven actual local females who are participating in the regular activities. The race as you know, because of the ongoing construction at the Marion Jones Stadium, the race will be finishing same spot as the annual Cross Country. It will run from San Ignacio to Belize City, finishing outside the Memorial Park.”
In basketball news, the Shine Your Light Christian Basketball League returned to action with a new season which opened at big Bird’s Isle on Saturday. We joined the second match on the schedule with Horizon battling Lake I as Jason Bradley gets the put back. He would help Horizon today with a two doubles of fifteen points and thirteen rebounds. Errol Robateau, the veteran gets into the action by hitting this baseline jumper. At the other end Darwin Prince Zuniga streaks down for the lay-up, he would give his team game highs of twenty-four points and fifteen rebounds. And to make sure you understand why, here is Prince Zuniga knocking down the three point shot. Errol Robateau again displays this jumper to give his team a two point lead. Respect to the diminutive number four, we apologise for not getting his name, who takes Robateau for two off the glass as Lake I takes the lead. Still, Horizon grabs back the lead for good when George Tillett comes up with this tough put back. Horizon goes on to post the 67-52 big W over Lake I Baptist.
In the opener on this ticket, the defending champion M&M’s Promise Keepers got jolted by Open Door Saints who crushed the set 78-69. Jacob Leslie did a lot of damage in this outing with twenty-eight points, ten rebounds and so did Jerome Perry Ellis who struck for twenty-two points while pulling thirteen rebounds. For M&M, Andrew Robateau put up twenty-seven points and twenty rebounds and Jason Lamb recorded sixteen points, eleven boards in the loss. Saturday’s schedule looks like this: Sandhill faces Open Door Saints in game one and in game two Horizon goes up against M&M Promise Keepers.
Hey folks, that’s our show for today. We invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
