Thompson Classic down to Round of 16

Christ Church West and Christ Church West-Central both made the cut as they brought down the curtain on the preliminary round of the David Thompson Memorial Constituency Councils Football Classic with wins on Monday night. Playing in the last outstanding games at Briar Hall, they both will be advancing to the Round of 16 after besting their opponents in high-scoring affairs.

Christ Church West, who have taken the second spot in Zone 3, opened the evening’s proceedings with a sound four-one win over St. Peter who were sent barrelling out of the competition. Nicholas Jones got the show started in the sixth minute before Chai Lloyd added a second goal in the 40th minute. In the second half, Jones added another goal to bring up his brace in the 65th minute. Five minutes after, Zidkigah Samuel made it four-nil for the Christ Church team. St. Peter, who finished at the bottom of their zone got a consolation in the 90th minute, their second goal for this year’s competition.

In the feature game, home team Christ Church West-Central eased away a one-goal win from neighbours Christ Church South in their Zone 5 clash. West-Central was able to rack up a two-goal lead with successful shots from Mario Farrell (24th) and Andre Daniel (46th). However, Armando Lashley pulled one back for South in the 48th minute. West-Central regained their lead when Jelani Keizer got his name of the card in the 57th. South pulled another back but that would be all they could muster before the end of the game. Darian Croney was good for one in the 62nd minute.

Heading into the Round of 16 as well are, from Zone 1; St. Michael North and St. Thomas, both with eight points. From Zone 2, former champions Christ Church East-Central topped the group with 10 points while defending champions St. George South were behind on seven. St. James South (6) made the cut as one of the better third-placed teams.

In Zone 3 Christ Church West (6) finished behind St. Andrew, who won all their games for 12 points. St. John topped Zone 4 with 10 to lead Christ Church East and St. Lucy who both had seven. St. Michael West and Christ Church West-Central pulled one and two respectively in Zone 5 after they both ended with nine points. St. Michael South-Central also came out from the group after taking seven points to be the second-best third-placed team.

Three teams came out of the highly competitive Zone 6 as they had to be separated by goal-difference as they all ended with nine points from three wins each. St. Michael South, St. Philip South and St. Michael South-East will be going forward to the next round.