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Winners of the 2020 Youth Development Programme National Sports Council Football Tournament, St. Michael North-East celebrating their victory on Sunday night.

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Shaquan Phillips (centre) was the man of the hour as he copped the Player of the Final, Tournament MVP and Best Goalkeeper titles. Here he is flanked by (from left) Chairman of the National Sports Council, MacDonald Fingall; Minister of the Creative Economy, Culture and Sports John King and Director of Youth in the Ministry of Youth and Community Empowerment Cleviston Hunte and Director of Sports at the National Sports Council Neil Murrell.

North-East pull out 1-0 thriller over East in YDP final

After a three-goal affair when both teams met up initially in the preliminary round of the Youth Development Programme National Sports Council Football tournament, all it took was one to decide the winner this time around when St. Michael North-East and St. Michael East met up in the thrilling final this past Sunday night.

Playing at the Barbados Football Association’s Wildey Turf, the North-East team came away victors a second time to take the top spot in the competition and claim the prize of a trip to Trinidad and Tobago to play two games against top opposition there.

After finishing fourth in the group and going down 2-1 to North-East in the opening round, St. Michael East opened the game in a rather aggressive fashion with a few chances before North-East got themselves together to mount a solid counter-offensive. North-East’s style of play would pay dividends for them as they tipped the scales in the 20th minute.

Jadon McCollin hit a right-booted blazer from the right just outside the box which whistled past goalkeeper Davon Sam. Following that, North-East became more organised and enjoyed more chances as St. Michael East slumped into some sloppy play with some reckless tackles.

The half-time break was good for the trailers as they controlled the remaining period. St. Michael East came alive as Tournament Best Midfielder Roshon Gittens and Tournament Best Striker Jarad Maxius kept themselves in the faces of the North-East defenders. On one of the few times North-East got into the final third, a hand-ball inside the box saw them gifted a penalty. However, Coby Mayers’ resulting shot shook the right upright and glanced harmlessly off.

Several other chances went a-begging for St. Michael East as the minutes dropped off the clock. However, the most painful moments came when Maxius was fed a ball deep inside the box, deep inside injury time. With a diving header that was on target, he was denied when national youth programme goalkeeper and captain Shaquan Phillips pushed the ball out to the right to leave St. Michael East searching and avoiding extra-time.

Speaking to members of the media, Head Coach Andre Gill said that it was a nerve-racking game but knew that his boys had it in them. “I know that the other team was a tough team because we played them already, so I just wanted my guys to come and take it seriously. We have a strong unit – even the bench is strong so it is really hard to pick a starting 11. But I told the guys that subs are important in the game as well so we have a part to play.” Gill said.

Going on to say that they finished third in the stacked zone, Assistant Coach Tito Grazette said they were elated about he win and noted the importance of sticking to their strategy. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. We told the guys to soak up the pressure and hit them on the break because we realised that they are a good ball-playing team but they are a bit slow on transition in defence so we tried to hit them on the break. It was hard but the game-plan worked.” Grazette said.

Commenting on the Phillips’ save, which won him Player of the Match and also helped in seeing him named Tournament MVP, Grazette said that the game was one of glorious uncertainty. “Obviously, tired legs and tired minds as expected because it was a tough game and we also missed a penalty that would have given us a little ease. But, you know how football is, you’ve got to take your chances. At least we did not give up one.” he said.

Speaking highly of his team and explaining that he knew that they wanted to win as he saw the passion and desire after they still deciding to train although there was no access to lights at the facilities at some times, Head Coach Gill said that he had his eyes on defending in 2021 as he would only be losing one of his players as the majority of them were aged between 14 and 17. “The guys will be good, plus, I left out some guys that did not come to training so I had to put them to the side. It was important to the team and they never came to training. So now they see us doing well they want to be there next year. You have to train first before you play.” he said before thanking fans and supporters, calling it a complete team effort.

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