HE IS SMALL BY NAME, not by nature.
Christ Church East found that out the hard way.
Kenroy Small scored two goals to lead St Michael Central to a comfortable 2-0 victory over their southern opponents when the David Thompson Memorial Constituency Councils’ Football Classic continued at the Silver Sands playing field on Saturday night.
Playing in the night’s main match, the tall, lanky striker made Christ Church East pay for wasting several easy chances, helping his side open their account in the competition with a win.
Although St Michael Central dominated possession, it was the home side which created the best chances early in the match.
Supporters around the ground stared in disbelief when Carlos Ward headed over from eight yards out with an empty net at his mercy and when Romario Griffith’s thunderous right-footed shot was palmed away by the keeper.
They were made to rue those chances when, against the run of play, St Michael Central were awarded a penalty after the referee spotted a hand ball during a melee in the penalty area.
Small stepped up to take the spot kick and his low shot to the right just eluded a diving Gabriel “Buffon” Layne to put his side in the lead in the 41st minute.
They carried that 1-0 lead into the half and on resumption the visitors took complete control of the contest. With crisp passes and good ball movement, St Michael took charge as they set up camp in their opponent’s half.
Christ Church East, on the other hand, looked scrappy and tired, giving away possession at will, seemingly happy to just launch the ball upfield and hope for the best.
Therefore it came as no surprise when St Michael Central doubled their lead in the 77th minute.
A beautiful one-two between Small and Kemar Barrow saw Small get behind Christ Church East’s defence and with just an advancing Layne to beat, he easily rounded the keeper before touching the ball into an empty net.
Earlier, despite wasting a plethora of chances, Christ Church South defeated St Michael North East 1-0, thanks to a header from Trevor “Taz” Mayers in the 73rd minute.
In the first half alone, Christ Church South missed at least eight clear-cut chances to get on the score sheet, with striker Michael Daniel being the biggest culprit, squandering five of those opportunities.
But with the game appearing headed for a draw, Mayers took advantage of a deflected corner kick, with the ball lobbing up perfectly for him at the back post to easily nod home.
Over at Bayville, not even the presence of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart could stop St Michael South from going down 2-1 to Christ Church West Central in their opening match.
Stuart, the Member of?Parliament for the area, was all smiles when St Michael South opened the scoring through captain Arantees Lawrence. But two goals late in the first half by Christ Church West Central made it a bad night for Stuart and the St Michael South side.
Kyle Atherley converted from the penalty spot after he was fouled in the 18-yard box while Shane Cox netted the winner and made a goalline clearance late in the match to deny Lawrence and secure the win for his team.
In the first match, Christ Church East Central blanked St Michael West 3-0.