MaGuaya Utd top NLC U-19 Invitational Tournament

AFTER an impressive unbeaten run, MaGuaya United are the 2019/2020 Next Level Consulting (NLC) Ltd under-19 Community Invitational Tournament champions. The team defeated Deportivo Point Fortin Youths 3-2 on Sunday at the Mayaro Recreation Ground.

Akeal Pierre, Kyrise Frontin and Isa Bramble put their names on the scoresheet to lead MaGuaya to victory, while captain Ezekiel Kesar and Jaiye Sheppard scored for Deportivo. Sheppard, who attends Presentation College, San Fernando, was recently awarded SSFL (Secondary Schools’ Football League) player of the year.

The champions were coached by Joseph Weekes, former national under-17 and under-20 captain Leston Paul and Ryan “Fry” Stewart.

In addition to the championship trophy and individual medals, they were awarded a $5,000 cheque sponsored by NLC Ltd.

Weekes has been coaching for over 25 years. Speaking with Newsday, on Tuesday afternoon, he said it was a “fitting” final as both teams performed well.

“We are trying to keep the team together and see if we can get into some other competitions that are upcoming.

“The team was jubilant but as youth players, I don’t believe they really understand what their victory would have brought back to the community.”

Newsday also chatted with Deportivo head coach Selvon Francis who said the tournament went well, but added there were a few issues with officiating.

“But as I tell my players, we focus on what we have control over.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities, so even if they (MaGuaya) scored an offside goal, we had enough opportunities to cancel out those offside goals. So I’m not going to dwell on that as the reason we didn’t win. We didn’t win because we didn’t score (more).”

He said the team had a solid performance and that supporters and players from the other team came to congratulate them after the match.

Deportivo eight had four losses and one draw out of 13 matches. Francis has been coaching for 20 years but has only been with this team for two years.

He said the next step for the team is the Youth Pro League which kicks off in two weeks.

“I already know what I need to work on with them. It was a very timely tournament.”

The third-place match between Gasparillo Youths and D.C.S./Dass Trace also took place on Sunday, ending 3-2 in favour of Gasparillo.

The tournament began on December 21, 2019 and featured 10 teams in two groups. Group A featured SP Boyz, MaGuaya Unit­ed, Hearts of Mal­oney and Trend­set­ter Hawks. Group B consisted of Mas­call F.A, All Blacks FC, De­porti­vo P.F Youths, Gas­par­il­lo Youths, DCS/Dass Trace and Princes Town Achiev­ers.

Chairman of the tournament Brian Jordan said, “When we started on this journey, we wanted to make a difference in the footballing lives of these talented youngsters by providing a platform to showcase their talent and skills”

“We want to collectively wish to thank all of the families, fans, supporters as well as all of the teams who were able to compete this year, and look forward to another great season, starting December 2020.”