The hands-down favorite going into Sunday’s Belize Bank Xmas Cup finals at the Ladyville Football Field was the star-studded West Lake team from Belize City; but their opponents, Old Road United, consisting of players mostly from Maskall Village and a few from nearby Corozalito, had a few things to their advantage. The Ladyville fans were more supportive of the boys from the villages; West Lake had to be a bit over-confident against many “no-name” players; and the field being smaller than the official size would reduce the effect of the more experienced West Lake stars in “spreading the field” and creating space for their attackers.
According to our observation, West Lake appeared to start the game playing a 3-3-4 formation, perhaps not the best strategy on a short field. In goal was the veteran Stanley “Jordan” Reneau, who was in fine form. In defence, Albert “Allie” Thurton started in front of All Belize sweeper Vallan Symms, with Shannon Flowers on left defence, and Jose “Shaggy” Caceres on the right. In midfield, they started with, from left to right, Michael Hernandez, Lorenzo Diaz, and Devon Makin; and in the forward, left to right, were Andres Makin, Jr., Jarrett Davis and Gilroy “Bredda” Thurton.
Old Road United stuck to the standard two-forward, 4 midfield set-up: All Belize Byron “Barrow” Usher along with Jermaine Madrill up front; midfield, left to right, Alfred Garnett, Delwin Jones, Samuel Leslie and Joseph “Shep” Morales; and in defence, Christopher Meighan on the left, Jerome Madril in front of Kevin Pelayo sweeping, and Victor Villamil on the right. In goal was Elias Hercules, and though that’s not a nickname, the young man played like “Hercules” on Sunday.
If it was a boxing match, you would call it a slug fest, as the more seasoned West Lake chose to go “toe to toe” with the less experienced Old Road squad. With the short field, as the ball crossed the half way line it was quickly in striking range, and West Lake may have underestimated the “fire power” of their opponents.
The game started fast, with both teams attacking fiercely on each possession, and both ‘keepers showing skill and confidence in goal. At the 9th minute, Old Road’s Delwin Jones centered from the left side near the goal line, and young rookie Samuel Leslie hit it right-away with a left foot drive that gave Jordan no chance; 1-nil, Old Road.
West Lake came right back on the attack, and 7 minutes later it was a close call for Old Road, as Bredda’s left-foot shot from the left top of the eighteen glanced off the “cross piece” after beating a diving Elias Hercules in goal for Old Road. The equalizer came for West Lake off a corner from the right side by Andres Makin that eluded everybody in front of goal and found Shannon Flowers coming up from West Lake defence to slap it in before it touched ground; 1-1 ball game at the 27th minute of first half.
The intensity of the game increased, with both Devon Makin of West Lake and Delwin Jones of Old Road being yellow carded by referee Steve “Jerry Collins” Myles following a fierce exchange near the eastern sideline where most fans congregated. But Old Road was not intimidated by their more famous opponents, and it was their aggressive and resilient midfielder Alfred Garnett breaking the deadlock at the 36th minute with a powerful, low, right-foot blast from 30 yards out that scraped the inside of the right goal post beyond the finger tips of a diving Stanley “Jordan” Reneau in goal for West Lake. Old Road carried the 2-1 lead into the intermission.
Second half was action packed all the way, with both Jordan and Hercules making some fine saves. With regulation time unofficially expired, Old Road’s Delwin Jones got a second yellow card, and was thus ejected, having received a first yellow earlier. Delwin took his slow time in leaving the field, allowing referee Myles to add an extra minute to injury time. And it cost Old Road, for exactly a minute later, West Lake’s Jarrett Davis measured his corner from the right side of the southern goal, and sent a swerving left foot drive that curved with the wind and sank directly into the left “pigeon hole”; 2-2 ball game. Less than a minute later, it was the long whistle, and on to overtime.
Playing a man short due to Delwin’s ejection, Old Road kept their composure and held on for the two 5-minute overtime periods, so it was on to penalties.
And again, the more experienced West Lake was surprised by the young men from Old Road, who faced the pressure like real stars of the game, which certainly some of them can now claim to be.
Old Road’s Alfred Garnett confidently drilled his penalty, as did West Lake’s Devon Makin; 1-1 so far. Old Road’s young Akeem Jones, who had come off the bench, then kicked his wide to the left, after which Jarrett Davis made no mistake; 2-1, West Lake in front. But then, Old Road’s Andrew “Hard Rock” Bennett, a Krem deejay, calmly converted his, while Elias Hercules dived to stop West Lake’s Gilroy “Bredda” Thurton’s shot to the right corner; tied again at 2-2. Byron “Barrow” Usher then stepped up for Old Road and blasted his shot in the right corner, while Hercules again dived to stop another West Lake penalty, this one from Andres Makin, Jr.; 3-2, Old Road in the lead. The next Old Road penalty could seal the victory, putting it out of reach of West Lake; and that’s exactly what their sweeper, Kevin Pelayo did, driving a hard low shot to the left corner that Jordan somehow got his hands on, but not enough to stop the ball from reaching the back of the net, and Old Road fans stormed the field in jubilation.
It was one heck of a game. Some West Lake fans said the result would have been different at the MCC. Who knows, and who cares? The fact is that Old Road United is the champion of the Belize Bank Xmas Cup, and there are a few young men from that part of the Belize District, the old Maskall road, that will get a lot more attention in the days and weeks ahead, as semi-pro teams fine tune their line-ups for the upcoming Premier League tournament.