Belmopan tops Toledo in RFG Cup football
Good evening I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday.
Week eight of the RFG Insurance Cup saw the Belmopan Bandits play host to Toledo United Saturday night inside the Isidro Beaton Stadium.
And we’re early into the ballgame when #14 Kenneth Budna apparently commits the dreaded auto goal but gets bailed out by an offside call.
The Bandits try to open the scoring properly with this Deon Frazier splice that just inches outside the sticks.
Folks we’re forty minutes in when Francisco Hernandez finds Alden Coleman whose header puts the Capital City Gang on to the scoreboard for the 1-zip lead.
Just before the half expires the visitors try to power their way to the equalizer but Kenton Galvez is denied.
So we go to second half and the Bandits come out firing and certainly should have doubled the lead here on these two open looks at goal.
This play should have provided Toledo United with the equalizer but Nelson Lara botches the finish.
Fortunately for the visitors, Israel Manzanero returns the favour at the other end.
On the very next play Manzanero finds Manuel Castillo and at the eighty-second minute Belmopan takes a 2-zip lead.
So Toledo United goes to their big man Kenton Galvez to rescue the goal of honour. He beats the keeper but gets his pocket picket at the last minute as the Bandits hang on to the 2-zip win.
In other results from around the league, in group A Tex Mar Boys handed Wagiya a 1-zip blast while Hankook Verdes and F.C. Belize battled to a 1-all stalemate.
Over in Group B Revolutionary Conquerors sunk Santel’s 3 to 1, Alpha and SP Costa Del Sol Nairi’s settled for a scoreless stalemate while Suga Boys Juventus kept Pickstock Lake winless in a 3-zip jolt.
Looking to the weekend we find all Sunday matches. In Group A Wagiya will host Hankook Verdes United at the Carl Ramos Stadium, Tex Mar Boys travel to Toledo United and F.C. Belize will face Belmopan Bandits at the M.C.C. Grounds.
Over in Group B Revolutionary Conquerors travels to San Pedro’s Nairi’s, Pickstock Lake takes on Alpha at the People’s Stadium and Santel’s will play host to Suga Boys Juventus.
In Karate news the Cayo Shotokan Karate Club hosted the Second Annual Youth Karate Camp at the Rio Maya Lodge in Georgeville over the weekend and we congratulate the following gold medal winners: Rasheed Adolphus, Hallie Spence, Shadima Castellanos, Nerici Pastor, Kara Pastor, Efrian Medina, Henquief Williams, Tricia Pipersburgh, Myra Pinello and Maria Elena Padillo. In the obstacle course event Henquief Williams took first, Kara Pastor took second and Rasheed Adolphus took third.
In basketball news, the 2007 Semi Pro season got off over the weekend. Saturday at San Pedro the Tigersharks beat the Belize Bank Bulldogs 71 to 66.
On Friday Belize Bank Bull dogs will be inside the Civic Center against Belmopan and on Saturday Corozal Running Rebels will play host to the San Pedro Tigersharks.
In other basketball news, Integrity Radio is sponsoring the Shine Your Light Basketball Competition exclusively for church members and the action kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday April 21st at Big Bird’s Isle. Reporter Janelle Chanona got the details from Jonathan Vellos, a member of the co-ordinating committee for this upcoming competition.
Jonathan Vellos, Member, Co-ordinating Committee
“What we are organizing is a Christian basketball league that facilitates relationship building between members of the different churches individually but also different members from different churches joining and building relationships with other churches as well.”
“The theme of the basketball league is to display the love of Christ on the basketball court; that is the main tool that we are using. The guys who play on the basketball court they are not breaking pint, they are not cursing out the referee, it’s showing a different type of attitude, a different type of lifestyle that we believe is going to minister to the people who come to the basketball games. And also, in addition to that, in the half time we are going to have different people from the different teams, different churches share their testimony. We are going to have youth groups that are gonna come and do different dances, rap songs and that type of things. It’s a ministry tool, that’s what it is. It’s a ministry that we are using to try and touch people out there and we really appeal to the business community out there to support something that is positive. There is too much negative stuff going on out there. A lot of the young men, especially, getting involved inna crimes and different things and we this as something that’s going to – that’s why we call it Shine Your Light – something that’s going to be attractive to the people out there to see, that you know what, there is a better way, that you know what, it’s not boring to be a Christian, that you can be involved in sports and have fun and once they see that unity out there I believe that that is something that’s going to draw them towards Christ because that is our main goal.”
In track and field news, we congratulate Ezekiel Usher who finished second in the Masters Class of the recently staged Georgia Half Marathon inside the U.S.
In closing folks, a Belizean contingent participated in the El Salvador Masters Tour. In the thirty to thirty-nine year old category Ernest Meighan finished fourth while Ray Cattouse finished second in the forty to forty-nine class. We say congratulations. That’s it for now though.
We invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all. I’m James Adderley.
