BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 12, 2015–It’s another highly competitive tournament in this Premier League of Belize (PLB) 2014-2015 Closing Season, and with only 3 weeks of regular season remaining, the playoff race is very much alive among the present top 7 teams in the standings.

Before reviewing the past weekend Week 6 games, we need to document the scoring details we recently received from last week’s Week 5 matches.

Week 5 – BDF 2:1 Placencia Texmar Assassins. Goals – BDF (Carlton “Fubu” Thomas 4’ and Leon “Lem” Jones 69’); Placencia (Luis “Baaka” Torres 29’). King Energy/Freedom Fighters 4:0 FC Belize. Goals – K.E./Fdm. Fighters (Derrol Lambey 61’, Dwayne Sampson 65’ & 68’, and Jevon Aranda 87’). Belmopan Bandits 1:0 Verdes FC. Goal – Bmp Bandits (Jerome “Jarro” James 28’). Wagiya 7:0 San Ignacio United. Goals – Wagiya (Dion Moguel 6’ & 53’, Byron Chavez 38’, Eugene Martinez 55’, Brandon Cacho 67’, Lennox Mejia 85’ and Leonard Valdez 86’).

In Week 6 this past weekend, there was only one game on Saturday, March 14, and it was at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium, where home standing defending champions Belmopan Bandits were shocked, 2-1, by visiting Placencia Texmar Assassins. Dellone Torres (6’) and Luis “Baaka” Torres (54’) shook the net for the visitors, while Jordy Polanco (63’) got the only goal for the Bandits.

Meanwhile, down south at the Carl Ramos Stadium in Dangriga, it was BDF, 1-nil, over Wagiya, on a goal by Stephen Martinez (34’). Further south, at the Toledo Union Field, it was nil-nil between home squad King Energy/Freedom Fighters and visiting Police United FC.

Here in Belize City, the MCC was blessed by some early Sunday morning showers which kept down the dust, as FC Belize rebounded from their devastating loss the previous week, to register a comfortable 3-0 victory over San Ignacio United. The visitors were only able to field eleven players, with no substitutes, as a few of their team members were elsewhere involved with the Ruta Maya River Challenge. FC Belize had their own troubles, as, with both their goalkeepers out of action due to injuries sustained at the MCC, midfield veteran Mark “Kelo” Leslie had to don the goalkeeper sweater and proceeded to register his first shutout as keeper. Devaun “Beckham” Zuniga (5’) scored a beautiful diving header off a corner by Jorge Aleman to give the home squad the first half lead. Rookie Jahron Myvette (63’) converted a penalty after Ernest “Dubu” Flores was taken down during a breakaway inside the eighteen. And another youngster, Carlos Lino (84’) jumped high at the left edge of the eighteen and put his whole body into a long header, off a center from the right wing by Zuniga, that sailed high into the right corner.

Both FC Belize and San Ignacio United are out of playoff contention (See standings below.), but they are both young teams with a bunch of blossoming talent that could surprise any of the front runners on a given day.

Upcoming Week 7 games:

Saturday, March 14
7:30 p.m. – Belmopan Bandits FC vs Belize Defence Force FC – Isidoro Beaton Stadium
7:30 p.m. – Placencia Texmar Assassins vs Verdes FC – Michael Ashcroft Stadium

Sunday, March 15
3:30 p.m. – San Ignacio United FC vs King Energy/Freedom Fighters – Norman Broaster Stadium
4:00 p.m. – Wagiya FC vs Police United FC – Carl Ramos Stadium