Pinelands Football Youth Academy proved that they are the one of the best youth academies in Barbados by dominating the finals of the 2018 Barbados Cup on Friday.
Pinelands captured the Under-11 and Under-15 titles in the finals at Parkinson Field, while Pro Shottas had to settle for two second places.
In the Under-11 final, Pinelands forward Theirry Clauzel proved his worth by scoring in each half to lead Pinelands to a hard fought 2-0 victory over never-say-die Pro Shottas whose outstanding goalkeeper Dylan Inniss kept the score respectable.
In the Under-13 final, Systems 3 of St Vincent outlasted Parkinson School 1-0 to be the new champions.
Parkinson, with two of their best players missing, lacked the cohesion which helped them eliminate Pro Shottas in the semi-finals.
When they were able to get through the defence, Systems 3 goalkeeper Jafari Samuels was always up to the task.
Pinelands returned to the winners’ row in the Under-15 division with a 3-0 victory over an ebullient Cosmos.
While the opening half was very competitive, Pinelands goalkeeper Karon Phillips and central defender Oshai Grant snuffed out all of the Cosmos threats which were orchestrated by the outstanding Davis Scantlebury in midfield.
When Pinelands scored early in the second half, Cosmos were forced to chase for the equaliser and were caught on the counter attack. The final score line was not a true reflection of the quality of the game.
The Under-17 category proved to be the surprise of the day. Giant-killers Brittons Hill squandered two chances to fall to a 1-0 defeat to resurgent Barbados Soccer Academy (BSA). BSA’s tactic of focusing on stopping 11-goal hero and tournament MVP Donte Greenidge worked to perfection.
The Under-19 final was a big relief for coach of Ellerton Corey “Beenie Man” Barrow. After coming close on five occasions and losing in four finals, Ellerton finally rallied to complete a 6-4 victory over a devastated Pro Shottas. (PR)
