Black Lion clip Royal Lakes 3-2

Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer

Black Lion roared past defending champions Royal Lakes 3-2 in a quarter-final game in the St Catherine FA Under-17 football league at the Spanish Town Prison Oval last Saturday.

Black Lion looked the better team on the day and had a 2-0 lead after just 13 minutes, as an own goal by Royal Lakes' Hakeem Brown (fourth), and Lion's Jamie Hall (13th) gave the victors the early advantage.

Royal Lakes hit back with two quick strikes, the first by Romario Constant in the 19th minute, his 14th goal of the season, and Romario Gringnon (32nd), to level the game at 2-2.

However, Romario Mitchell scored the vital goal in the 64th minute to allow Black Lion to defeat their rivals for the first time in five years.

"We finally broke the jinx," a relieved Ian Henry, coach of Black Lion, expressed after the game. "It was a good game for us and we are looking forward to the semi-finals."

In the second quarter-final at the venue, Albion who were clearly the more superior team of the two, gave their fans a scare before holding on to a 3-2 win over Spanish Town Police.

Albion led 3-0, at one stage, with Kevon Nembhard, (8th), the team's leading striker Tavoy Morgan (23rd), and Darren Grant (39th) all finding the target.

They appeared to relax after that as the Police youth team launched a series of attacks and netted goals via Danny McLaughlin (45th) and Desmond Malcolm (71st), that threatened to push the game into extra time but time ran out on them. The game ended on a sour note as Kenrick Francis was shown a red card by referee Patrick Findlay for a second bookable offence.

Albion's coach, Kenny Lee, said he was pleased with his team's attacking plays but was let down by his defenders. "Our performance was not 100 per cent today. The wet conditions somehow affected our level of play. However, I'm pleased with the way we attacked," Lee said.