The finalists for the 2024 Keith Gumbs U17 Tier 1 League and the Rams U13 Premier Youth Cup have been decided after thrilling semi-final encounters that delivered drama, heroics, and resilience from the young footballers.

The finals for both competitions will take place at the NBGC Technical Centre in St. Peters. The Keith Gumbs U17 Tier 1 League final is scheduled for Sunday, October 14,  at 6 pm, while the Rams U13 Premier Youth Cup final will be held on Monday at 6 pm. Fans can expect intense competition as these young teams vie for championship glory.

In the Keith Gumbs U17 League semi-finals on Thursday, October 10, Dieppe Bay secured their place in the finals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Newtown United. Dieppe Bay stormed to a 2-0 lead in the first half, putting Newtown under pressure. Newtown, however, rallied in the second half, pulling a goal back late in the match to make it 2-1. In a dramatic finish, Newtown earned a penalty in the dying moments, but Dieppe Bay's goalkeeper came up with a crucial save to preserve the win and send his team into the finals.

The other semi-final was a dominant display from Village Superstars, who came from 1-0 down against St. Peters FC to secure a 4-1 victory. Jermaine Powell was the hero of the match, scoring all four goals for Village, carrying his team to a commanding win. Village’s captain, Carl Newton, praised the resilience of his teammates and their determination to prove a point. “All weekend, we were focusing on beating them... we encouraged the players to go hard all the time, no matter what,” said Newton. He anticipates a tough battle in Sunday’s finals, describing it as an "intense and aggressive" contest. Newton also hopes his team can replicate their 2020 treble, with Village Superstars’ U15 team having already claimed the Atiba Harris U15 League title, and their U13 side set to compete in the Rams U13 Premier Youth Cup finals on Monday.

In the Rams U13 Premier Youth Cup semi-finals, Conaree Fireball International pulled off a stunning comeback against Saddlers Dream Chasers. Saddlers looked set for victory with a 2-0 lead well into the second half, but Conaree pulled one back and then conceded a third due to a defensive error, making it 3-1. Undeterred, Conaree staged a remarkable recovery, scoring two quick goals to level the match and send it to penalties, where they held their nerve to book their place in the finals.

The other U13 semi-final saw Village Superstars secure a comfortable 3-1 victory over Dieppe Bay, sealing their spot in Monday’s final and giving the club a chance at another youth title this season.

Security Forces FC have been promoted to the SKNFA Premier League after earning a narrow 3-2 win over KFC Trinity/Challengers United on Wednesday at the NBGC Technical Center in St. Peters in SKNFA Division 1 action. 

Dion Dolphin, Evansley Fahie and Dennis Phillip were the goal scorers for Security Forces in the 6^th, 31^st and 58^th minutes, respectively. Tyrone Grant and Cavid David led the fight for Trinity/Challengers. 

That match was followed by a 2-1 victory for Molineux over 607 Construction Lodge Patriots. Darren Brookes and Ronald Williams got the Molineux goals in the 22^nd and 38^th minutes, respectively, while Josh Liburd scored the lone goal for Lodge in the 89^th minute.

Molineux coach George “Kinta” Gilbert, who previously coached Security Forces, said he just recently took over this team and is looking forward in doing some great work with them.

“I have been working with this time for about maybe a week or so and a lot of work will have to be done with them. But eventually we will get there,” he said. “I am with this team now and we are going to work hard to implement what we want to implement and to become a better team. It’s a work in progress because I just started to work with the team,” Gilbert said. 

Wendell Nanton, a player with Lodge, said the team started out flat in the first half, but picked up momentum in the second half.

“We came out flat footed this evening. We are bit short on players in the first half but we maintain to keep our structure and to manage. Nevertheless we, were down 2-0. We came back, scored a goal in the second half. We had opportunities but going forward we have a lot of work to do on the pitch,” he said.

“I guarantee you next season Lodge Patriots will be a better and stronger team going forward,” he added. 

In other Division 1 results on Monday: Mantab defeated Conaree Fireball International 4-1. K’Jairn Liburd scored two goals for Mantab in the 19^th and 59^th minutes while the other goals came from Kimmel French in the 55^th minute and Wakamba Warner in the 5^th minute of stoppage time. Jolonni Huggins scored the lone goal for Conaree in the 52^nd minute.  

Meanwhile, Sandy Point FC edged TGE Dieppe Bay Eagles 1-0 on Thursday June 13^th. Dequan Joseph scored the winning goal in the 17^th minute.

In the night’s earlier match Saddlers United trounced Rivers of Living Water 4-0. The goals were scored by Kurt Mills, E Wattley, Darious Rawlins and Saeed Hanley in the 62^nd, 69^th, 73^rd and 3^rd minute of stoppage time respectively. SKNFA Division 1 continues next week.

Round two of the 2024 SKNFA Division 1 season got under way last week with wins for Fast Cash Saddlers United, Jones Group Sandy Point FC, Security Forces FC and Conaree Fireball International.

On Thursday at the NBGC Technical Center in St. Peters, Security Forces drubbed Rivers of Living Water FC 7-0.

Evanslie Fahie scored two goals in the 13^th and 37^th minutes while the other goas came from Everette Ritchen in the 34^th, David Joseph in the 57^th, Shane Clarke in the 60^th, Ronaldo Blake in the 73^rd and Shamar Douglas in the 86^th min.

In Thursday’s second match Lodge Patriots drew 1-1 with TGE Dieppe Bay Eagles.

Sair Morton scored for Lodge in the 54^th minute, while Jason Phipps equalized for Dieppe Bay in the 84^th minute. 

After the match, Coach of Lodge Leon Natta-Nelson praised his players for their execution on the pitch.

“I thought tonight, the first game of the second round, a better playing from the team…the movement on the ball and off the ball was wonderful in the first half,” Natta-Nelson said.

He blamed the goal they conceded on lack of focus.

“That has been our demise for the whole season,” he said, while expressing satisfaction with a point. He said the aim now is to beat teams they lost to in round one of the league.

“We had some developmental players who are just in the first and second year in the league. We have seen some improvement and we hope that we can regroup after this second round, we can go into next season but we will focus on one game at a time,” he said.

In the Tuesday games, Conaree Fireballs United secured a 2-1 win over Molineux before Jones Group Sandy Point drubbed KFC/Trinity Challengers United 7-0.

Leslian Dasent gave Conaree the lead in the 49^th minute before Kahml Wattley got the equalizer for Molineux with 16 minutes left in normal time.

I-Dee Caines then got the Conaree winner in the 96^th minute.

In the second game, goals from Deshawn Collins (7’), Diontre Eddy (15’, 45’) and Jahlyan Burnt (21’) meant Sandy Point went into the halftime interval with a comfortable 4-0 advantage.

They didn’t let up in the second half with goals from Troy Bassue in the 52^nd minute and Dequan Joseph in the 68^th minute making it 6-0 before Collins got his second goal of the contest in the 81^st minute to complete the day’s scoring.