Top four in today's semi-final showdown

Western Bureau:

The finalists in the 2011 St James/Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) Under-13 Football Competition will be decided today, when the competition's top four teams square-off in a big semi-final double-header at the UDC playing field in Montego Bay.

In the opening game at 10 a.m., the exciting Flankers Primary will lock horns with the resolute Barracks Primary, while in the second game at 11 a.m., favourites Mt. Salem will square-off with the much-vaunted Corinaldi Avenue Primary.

"Based on the form of the teams, I am expecting two epic semi-final games," said Hopeton Gilchrist, the competition's co-ordinator. "Having gone through the various rounds of the competition, all the teams are bubbling with confidence and should report in top form."

In the competition, which started out with 30 teams divided into five zones of six teams each, the action was quite intense during the preliminary round, which saw three teams from each zone and the best fourth-place finisher overall advancing to the daCosta Cup-style inter-zone phase.

At the completion of the inter-zone round, Howard Cooke Primary, Flankers, Mt Salem, Bogue Primary, Barracks Road Primary, St James Preparatory, Supreme Preparatory and Corinaldi Avenue Primary emerged as the qualifiers for the quarter-final round, which was played according to a knockout format.

In the quarter-finals, Flankers upstaged Howard Cooke 2-1, Mt Salem clipped Bogue 1-0, Barracks Road rolled passed St James Preparatory 2-1, while Cornaldi Avenue clipped Supreme Preparatory 1-0.

In today's opening game, Flankers' bid for victory will surround the dynamic Chevon Ferguson while Barracks Road is expected to counter through Jahdeja Reynolds and female sensation Shana-Ray Wilkins. In the second game, the dangerous Peter Campbell will lead the Mt. Salem attack, while Leacroft Lettman Jnr and Shawn Lewis are expected to hold sway for Cornaldi Avenue.

The winners of today's games will meet at the same venue on Tuesday for a $26,000 winner's prize and the VMBS championship trophy. The beaten finalist will take home $21,000. The competition attracted a sponsorship tag of a record J$1.5 million dollars.

- A.F.