WESPOW PARK, St James, Jamaica — Football fans across the parish are gearing up for a thrilling doubleheader of the St James Football Association/Victoria Mutual Foundation Under-13 youth competition, with local side Irwin Primary poised to chase consecutive wins when they take on the untested Mt Salem Primary this weekend.
Irwin Primary kicked off their 2024 campaign with a solid 2-0 shutout victory over Chetwood Primary earlier this week, leaving the side in high spirits ahead of their second fixture. Opponents Mt Salem Primary, by contrast, will step onto the Wespow Park pitch for their first competitive match of the season, making their performance against the already warmed-up Irwin Primary a highly anticipated question mark for observers.
The day’s action opens early with a Zone A clash starting at 10:00 a.m., where Tower Hill Primary and Maldon Primary will both go head-to-head in search of their first win of the tournament, with both sides still hungry to collect their first three points. The day’s schedule then closes with Irwin Primary’s match kicking off at 11:15 a.m. (corrected from the original typo of 11:15 p.m. for the morning tournament).
The tournament has already seen a series of lopsided results in earlier opening round matches held earlier this week. On Thursday, newcomers Winners Prep suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat at the hands of Montego Bay Prep, with attackers Andrew Daley netting two goals (a brace) for the winning side, while Mason Smith and Tyler Johnson each added one goal to seal the rout. Former tournament champions Catherine Hall also notched a dominant 5-0 win over Lethe Primary, with Semajha Clarke and Joshua Cooker each scoring two goals apiece, and Treshaun Stephenson rounding out the scoreline with the team’s fifth. In Thursday’s third fixture, Granville Primary secured a 3-0 win over Glendevon Primary, holding a narrow 1-0 lead at halftime from a 4th-minute opener by Junior Samuels before doubling their lead in the 48th minute through Shaquan Santos, with Kejaun Plummer adding a third just two minutes later to lock in the result.
A day earlier on Wednesday, another set of former champions Barracks Road Primary picked up a 2-0 win over Green Pond Primary, with Levar Level scoring both goals for the winning side. Flankers Primary also earned a 3-0 shutout victory against DMP Academy, with Jayquan Johnson opening the scoring in the 8th minute, Michael Williams doubling the lead in the 36th, and an own goal from DMP Academy in the 56th minute putting the result beyond doubt. In the day’s final fixture, Howard Cooke Primary and Anchovy High played out a tense 1-1 draw: Taysean Anderson put Howard Cooke ahead just three minutes into the match, before Alique Cole equalized for Anchovy High in the 24th minute, with neither side able to break the deadlock for the rest of the game.