Repeat of 2018 Finals clash – San Pedro Veterans vs Kulture Yabra
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 12, 2019– The stage is set for a repeat of the 2018 Finals clash in the National Over-40 Football Tournament, as both Kulture Yabra Veterans and San Pedro Veterans emerged victorious from their semifinal series this past weekend.
The San Pedro Veterans vs Belmopan Veterans series was considered a foregone conclusion, following last week’s reported 6-nil shelling of Belmopan in the semifinals first leg in San Pedro. (We didn’t receive official scoring details until today, and it makes the finals more interesting.) We suspect San Pedro Veterans were not inspired or “fully loaded” for their semifinal return match yesterday afternoon at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium, where Belmopan Veterans defended their turf with a 1-nil win, courtesy of a late goal by Oliver Wiltshire (79’). But, San Pedro Veterans are nevertheless 6-1 aggregate series winners, and will move on to the Finals against Kulture Yabra Veterans.
What we found very interesting in the report from last week’s semifinal, was the return to the scoring spotlight of former San Pedro star striker, Orlando Pinelo, who tallied 5 of those 6 San Pedro goals (6’, 29’, 37’, 44’ & 75’), the other coming from another veteran star, Christopher Hendricks (11’).
Meanwhile, Kulture Yabra Veterans had only managed a 3-2 win in their semifinal first leg a week ago in Independence, where they had a goal each from Jermaine “Bowfoot” Zuniga (5’), Albert “Chicken” Arnold (24’) and David “Manu” McCaulay (50’); while Wilmer Garcia (51’) and Benigno Espinosa (80’) had scored for Golden Eagle Veterans.
Yesterday’s semifinal return match at the MCC Grounds was therefore a critical one for both teams. Golden Eagles came “to play,” and it was no pushover for Kulture, who eventually prevailed, 4-2, with goals from Kevin Rowland (12’ & 47’), Albert “Chicken” Arnold (33’) and Carl Paulino (74’); while Golden Eagles got a goal each from Roger Munoz (18’) and Jose Nunez (78’).
Kulture Yabra Veterans are therefore 7-4 aggregate semifinal winners, and will once again square off against San Pedro Veterans in the Over-40 Finals.
Over-40 Finals 1st leg schedule:
Saturday, August 17
7:30 p.m. – San Pedro Veterans vs Kulture Yabra Veterans – Ambergris Stadium