Week 18 of the Belize Bank Super League tournament saw three games played yesterday; but there is still one game remaining to complete the regular season, and it’s an important game indeed. The Valley Renaissance home game against Barrio Fino Corozal was rained out, and, with Cayo South’s victory yesterday pushing them one point ahead of Valley in the standings, it will be all up to Valley Renaissance to earn the fourth and final playoff spot in their back match game this Wednesday night with Barrio Fino. Because of their better goal differential, a draw with Barrio Fino would be enough to give Valley a tie in points with Cayo South, and the edge for the 4th playoff spot.
It was no redemption time for San Felipe Barcelona on their home turf yesterday, as visiting Texmar Boys lived up to their #1 ranking with a convincing 4-2 win over the 2nd ranked San Felipe team. Christopher Hendricks opened the scoring early, at the 3rd minute, for San Felipe, but Texmar got the equalizer at the 17th minute from Norman “Tilliman” Pipersburg. Ashley Torres then made it 2-1 Texmar at the 41st minute, followed by teammates Wilmer Garcia and Lyndon Brooks at the 46th and 72nd minute, respectively, for the 4-1 lead. San Felipe’s Oscar Acevedo closed the gap to 4-2 with his 77th minute goal, but that’s how it ended, 4-2, Texmar Boys over San Felipe Barcelona.
Meanwhile, out west at the Roaring Creek Football Field, home standing Cayo South United were determined to keep their playoff hopes alive, sending back the visiting Tsunami from Caye Caulker on the short end of a 5-2 score. Enrique Tamai blasted four goals for Cayo South (2, 33, 82 and 83 min), with Wayne Wiltshire getting the other (40 min). Tsunami’s two goals came from Steven Arnold (28 min) and Rupert Smith (77 min).
In the only other Super League game yesterday, Raymond Gentle struck twice (24 and 87 min) and Leon Jones once (45+ min) to give visiting Kraal Road FC the 3-0 victory over Lucky Strike Black Orchid at their Lucky Strike Field.
The backmatch between Valley Renaissance and Barrio Fino Corozal is set for this Wednesday night, and the Super League playoffs, which will have a round-robin format, commence this weekend.
Scheduled backmatch:
Wednesday, January 21
8:00 p.m. Valley Renaissance vs Barrio Fino Corozal Carl Ramos Stadium
Playoff Schedule Week #1
Saturday, January 24
7:30 p.m. Texmar Boys vs Cayo South United or Valley Renaissance at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium
Sunday, January 25
3:30 p.m. San Felipe Barcelona vs Kraal Road FC San Felipe Field