BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 20, 2022
The Belize District Football Association (BDFA) hosted its portion of the Football Federation of Belize’s (FFB) Regional Male Youth Elite Tournament 2022 finals at the Marion Jones Sports Complex on Saturday, July 16, where Warriors FC were crowned U17 champions and Hattieville United FC the U20 champions. Warriors FC fielded teams in both finals, but were unsuccessful in the U20 category, having to settle for second place.
In the U17 Finals opener at 10:00 a.m., it was tied at halftime, 1-1, after Joshua Arnold (1’) had given Warriors FC a very early lead, and Kevin Espinoza (23’) had tied it up for Sampson Academy. In a tightly contested second half, Raul Lopez (71’) scored to give Warriors the 2-1 lead, and it also proved to be the winning goal for Warriors, 2-1, over Sampson Academy.
The U20 Finals between Hattieville United and Warriors FC also started out with a very early goal, this one from Adrian Usher (1’) who took advantage of a defensive lapse to give Hattieville the 1-nil lead. Hattieville made it 2-0 when Devin Thurton (24’) converted a surprising penalty call after a stern body check by a Warriors defender. Sanja Pitts (62’) closed the gap to 2-1 for Warriors, but Hattieville got 2 more goals from Jose Almendarez (72’) and Enoch Rhaburn (74’) to secure the 4-1 victory.
(AMANDALA Sports Ed. Note: For the benefit of fans who may not be aware, the executive members of the Belize District Football Association (BDFA), elected on June 13 of 2020, are: Chairman – Stanley “Jordan” Reneau; Vice-Chairman – Tyrone “T-Bone” Muschamp; and Executive Members – Ms. Penelope Matus, Paul Casimiro and Eulalio Coc.)
