BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 22, 2024
Week 14 games to end regular season in the Premier League of Belize (PLB) 2023-2024 Closing Season were all played yesterday evening, Sunday, and the stage is now set for the semifinal home-and-away playoffs which begin this coming weekend. Verdes, Altitude and Port Layola all won their final regular season games; while Benque United suffered a tough 1-nil loss to Verdes, which they will get a chance to avenge in the semifinals, because the loss left them tied in points with Port Layola, who got the third place seeding due to goal difference. 4th place Benque will therefore square off with #1 Verdes, while #2 Altitude take on #3 Port Layola. (See final regular season standings below.)
Out west at the Marshalleck Stadium, Progresso FC proved they are serious contenders for next season as they solidified their hold on 5th place in the standings with a convincing 3-0 win over home standing Police United FC. Shaking the net for Progresso were Enrique Castillo (13’), Aloisio Teixeira (16’) and Daijon Daniels (86’).
Down south at the Carl Ramos Stadium, Wagiya SC led 1-0 at the half over visiting defending champions Altitude FC. However, second half goals from Luis “Baaka” Torres (57’) and Andres Orozco (71’) were enough to give Altitude the 2-1 victory.
At the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio, it was a fierce battle of the west that was tied nil-nil until a late goal from Jordy Polanco (71’) gave Verdes FC the 1-nil win over a game Benque United FC. These two will next tangle in the semifinals game 1 on the Benque home field.
Here in Belize City at the Marion Jones Sports Complex, Port Layola’s league leading goal scorer Latrell Middleton made a statement early, and although Enfield Coleman (33’) helped Bandits Sports end the first half tied at 1-1 with the city boys, second half was all Port Layola, who cruised to a 5-1 win and secured 3rd place in the final regular season standings. Goal scorers for Port Layola were Latrell Middleton (17’ & 80’), Leocardio Briceno (47’), Shawn Young (47’) and Wayne Ford (82’).
Top “goleador” to finish the regular season is Port Layola’s Latrell Middleton with 16 goals; he is followed by Verdes’ Matias Veron with 11 goals, Bandits’ Jonard Castillo with 9, Altitude’s Andres Orozco with 8, and Wagiya’s Harrison “Cafu” Roches with 6 goals.
Interestingly, with his 16 goals scored in 14 games, Latrell has averaged more than 1 goal per game (1.14 goals per game, to be exact). Amazingly, Verdes’ defence has allowed a total of 4 goals in the 14 regular season games (0.29 goals per game allowed). Woodrow West was the man between the sticks for most of those games.
According to the PLB playoff format, it will be #1 vs #4, and #2 vs #3, with the first game being on the home field of the lower ranked team.
PLB semifinals Game 1 schedule:
Saturday, April 27
7:30 p.m. – Benque United FC vs Verdes FC – Marshalleck Stadium
Sunday, April 28
4:00 p.m. – Port Layola FC vs Altitude FC – Marion Jones Sports Complex