BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 31, 2017–The Football Federation of Belize (FFB) National Over-40 Tournament 2017 held Week 9 games over the past weekend, and as the race to the top-4 playoffs begins to heat up, Kulture Yabra Veterans are once again at the top of the standings, while a hot contest out west left the game unfinished due to “fans behavior.”
On Saturday, July 29, at the MCC Grounds, league leading goal scorer Kevin Rowland struck twice (14’ & 70’) to lift Kulture Yabra Veterans to a 2-1 victory over a game BDF Veterans, who got a late goal from Donald Harris (89’). The win pushed Kulture Yabra back on top of the standings, since also on Saturday, former standings leader Mangro Creek Veterans were held to a 1-1 stalemate at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium by home standing Belmopan Veterans. Benigno Espinosa (16’) gave Mango Creek the early lead, but Mario Cerna (29’) equalized for Belmopan.
On Sunday, July 30, at the MCC, visiting San Pedro Veterans made light work of a struggling Pickstock Lake-I home team, cruising to a 4-1 win with goals from Edgar Lima (16’ & 45’), Orlando Pinelo (63’) and Javier Chavez (68’); while Jermaine “Bowfoot” Zuniga (51’) got the only goal for Pickstock Lake-I. Meanwhile, out west at the Norman Broaster Stadium, where San Ignacio Quintas was hosting Benque Vets FC, the excitement was high, as Match Commissioner David Griffith “had to suspend the game (at) 68 min. due to fans’ behavior.” We understand that the game will be continued as a “closed game” on Wednesday with 22 minutes remaining, 2-1 in favor of Benque Veterans.”
As the latest standings below indicate, every game now has playoff implications; but especially for San Ignacio, their hopes of staying in the playoff race could be severely hurt by another loss; and a victory by Benque would strengthen their hold on a top-4 position in the standings.
Upcoming games:
Wednesday, August 2 (continuation of Week 9 game)
(time ?) – San Ignacio Quintas vs Benque Vets FC – Norman Broaster Stadium
Saturday, August 5, Week 10
6:00 p.m. – Pickstock Lake-I Veterans vs Mango Creek Veterans – MCC Grounds
7:30 p.m. – San Pedro Veterans vs Benque Vets FC – San Pedro Stadium
Sunday, August 6, Week 10
4:00 p.m. – Kulture Yabra Veterans vs Belmopan Veterans – MCC Grounds
6:00 p.m. – San Ignacio Quintas vs BDF Veterans – Norman Broaster Stadium
(Information courtesy Peter Alvarez, Chairman, National Over-40)