Observing the pre-game routine, with Creative Tiles in full force in their team huddle on the sidelines a half hour before the scheduled 8:00 p.m. game time, and their opponents CYDP begging the game officials for a 10-minute grace period to allow their 6 missing starters to make it to the MCC, it had to be a foregone conclusion as to who would win the game on Friday night, October 30, for the Interoffice Football Championship.
But, despite themselves, the abundance of talent scattered among the CYDP youth coupled with their fierce fighting spirit made the game quite an exciting one, befitting a championship match, and proved why they had emerged champions of their division.
The game was just 6 minutes old when 15-year-old Gilroy “Bredda” Thurton caught veteran goalkeeper Marvin Ottley straying outside his 6-yard box, and sent a long floater from 35 yards out on the right wing that saw Marvin scrambling back only to watch the ball slide under the cross bar for the first CYDP goal. But the well-disciplined Creative Tiles squad, led by former La Victoria veteran Landy Vega, quickly turned things around, and seemed to even secure a comfortable lead, with strikes from Ildye Zepeda (9 min) and Marshall Nunez (12 & 16 min) to take a commanding 3-1 lead. But F.C. Belize midfielder Mark “Kelo” Leslie (each team is allowed 1 semipro player), now the CYDP captain, received a center from left wing Akeem Thurton amongst a crowd in the eighteen and unleashed a right-foot rocket past Marvin to make it 3-2 at the 21st minute. And it was another long floater from 25 yards out, this one from Akeem Thurton on the left side, that found the right pigeon hole, bewildering Marvin to tie the score at 3-3 at the 28th minute.
The half ended that way, but after being substituted in goal, Marvin agitated for a change of game ball, from the dark blue of the first half, to a white ball in the second, that may have reduced the night advantage of the shooters over the goalies on both teams.
The second half was well contested, but it was series MVP Jairo Garcia who broke the ice at the 60th minute to give Creative Tiles the lead again, and they held on till the long whistle for the championship.
Following the game, the Champion of Champions team trophy for Creative Tiles and the MVP trophy for young Jairo Garcia were handed over, but the individual awards for the regular season, which includes individual trophies for winning teams from each division have been delayed a week, according to tournament organizer Michael Blease. According to Blease, the Awards Night is sponsored by Smart, and will be held this week at a time and day to be announced.