BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 24, 2023

It was high football drama on Saturday when all 4 Week-14 games were played to end regular season in the Premier League of Belize (PLB) 2022-2023 Closing Season. And when it was over, 4 teams had qualified to the playoffs, and it was as close as it could get. With Altitude’s 1-0 win over Verdes, a loss by Port Layola to Progresso along with the loss by Police/Benque to San Pedro Pirates, could have sent Altitude to the playoffs by virtue of goal difference over Port Layola. But Port Layola won, thanks to 2 goals from their game hero, Latrell Middleton. Meanwhile, San Pedro Pirates’ Howard Avila scored 2 goals to tie Port Layola’s Michael Palacio at 8 goals for the goal scoring title. Unfortunately, Avila was reportedly red-carded in the Police/Benque match, and thus may not see action in game 1 of the semifinals.

Ironically, perhaps the most spectacular goal of the tournament, that Palacio scored against Verdes’ goalkeeper Woodrow West in Port Layola’s 2-1 victory in Week 3, was later written off the books after the game was protested and the FFB Appeal Board awarded the match (3-0) to Verdes. That would have been 9 goals for Mikey and the Golden Boot.

Apologies also to veteran Daniel “Danny” Jimenez who tallied 7 goals total, not 6 as in our table in Friday’s issue. We overlooked a brace that Danny scored in Week 5 where we had only allotted him 1 goal.

We’ll have the final scoring details in our weekend edition, but the game final scores are: Wagiya SC, 3-2, over Bandits/International FC; San Pedro Pirates FC, 3-2, over Police/Benque United FC; Altitude FC, 1-0, over Verdes FC; and Port Layola FC, 2-1, over Progresso FC. (See final standings below.)

According to PLB tournament regulations, the semifinal playoffs are home-and-away, with the lower seed team playing at home first.

Therefore, this weekend will see Port Layola FC hosting San Pedro Pirates FC; and Progresso FC hosting Verdes FC.