President of the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Randy Harris has hailed this year’s BICO Primary Schools Football Competition as another success.
Harris, who is also sales manager of BICO, said the winners, Wilkie Cumberbatch, and the third-placed team, Cuthbert Moore, played steady football and showed character.
“Both winners played well and had a steady performance. They showed character and were able to soak up the pressure that was put on them for most of the game and in the end they both had a deserving win,” Harris said.
Cuthbert Moore’s coach, Perry Barnett, whose team defeated St Bartholomew on penalties, said the slow start of his players resulted from first-time jitters.
“We didn’t play up to the standard that they usually play,” he admitted. “They were a little sluggish at the start because of first-time jitters because all of the players were new to the team but as they got into the game they started to rally back.”
Barnett said that the future of Cuthbert Moore looked bright.
“We have 11 of them [students] coming back next year and that is very good; it sends a message to all the schools to watch out for Cuthbert Moore in the future,” he said.
St Bartholomew’s coach Dave Alleyne said missed chances cost them third place.
“In the game we missed too many goals,” he conceded. “We had a lot of chances and we just panicked at the penalties, but we will be back next year and will perform better.”
West Terrace placed second in the competition.