George Town Primary dominated proceedings in the 2011/2012 CUC Primary Football League (PFL) Finals this past Saturday, February 4, winning two of the four championships.

In the Under 9 Consolation Cup Final, George Town Primary overcame a hard-working Cayman International School (CIS) 2-1 in a penalty shootout after both teams were unable to find the back of the net during regulation and overtime. George Town’s Micah O’Garro scored the decisive penalty following a second penalty miss by CIS.

In the Under 9 Champions Cup third-placed encounter, South Sound Schools came from behind to defeat Grace Academy 2-1 with second half goals from Lewis McMurdo and Aidan Hew. Grace had taken the lead in the first half with a goal from Ethan Rivers.

In the Under 9 Champions Cup Final, Cayman Prep completed their undefeated season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Sir John A. Cumber Primary thanks to two goals from Aaron Jarvis and a single strike from Bobby Lomax.

To cap off a great performance in the Final, which saw him open the scoring in the first five seconds of the game, Aaron Jarvis was presented with The Justin Henry Memorial Award for the Under 9 Most Valuable Player in the Final. This prestigious award was named in memory of young Justin Henry who passed away in December under tragic circumstances. Justin played his primary school football with George Town Primary in the early to mid 2000’s and was a member of the Cayman Athletic Sports Club.

In the Under 11 Consolation Cup Final, Bodden Town Primary defeated Prospect Primary 1-0 in an extremely entertaining and very well-played game thanks to a late strike from Jondane “Woody” Dawkins.

In the Under 11 Champions Cup third-placed games, Truth For Youth’s Kareem Foster scored four goals to lead his team to an emphatic 9-3 over Cayman Prep. Nicholas Chung bagged a hat-trick and Azuca “AJ” Obi added two with Jona Narborough, Matthew Penner and Alex Powery replying for Cayman Prep.

In the feature Under 11 game, George Town Primary secured their second championship of the day with 2-0 defeat of Sir John A. Cumber Primary in the Under 11 Champions Cup Final in front of a large and vociferous crowd.

It was also George Town Primary’s second Under 11 championship of the season as they had captured the 2011/2012 Opening Rally in October, ironically defeating Sir John A. Cumber Primary in the final of that tournament.

The Under 11 Final was a game not for the faint-of-heart as both teams prodded and probed for that one opening that would put them on the road to victory.

George Town’s exciting striker D’Andre Rowe was shadowed by Sir John A. Cumber’s Xavier Comment for much of the game and when the young forward did find space for a shot, he found Sir John A. Cumber’s goalie Sean Evans equal to the task.

With Kameron Mendez out injured and Alexander Clarke not at his best due to illness, the Sir John A. Cumber frontline struggled to find any rhythm. When called upon, George Town’s goalkeeper Jalen Walters came to his team’s rescue.

The second half started brightly with George Town’s Joshua O’Garro clearing the ball of his line and Sean Evans making several great saves for the team from West Bay. With George Town Primary piling on the pressure, the young Sir John A. Cumber goalkeeper failed to deal with a looping cross off the boot of Bryan Ramoon and was devastated when he saw the ball nestle in the back of the net.

Sensing that a single goal was enough to win the title, George Town Primary withdrew their top marksman D’Andre Rowe into defence. With the game winding down, George Town’s Ivan McField sealed the win with a second goal.

At the sound of the final whistle, the George Town Primary faithful poured onto the field to congratulate their young heroes and salute their opponents with rapturous applause.

For his heroics in goal, Sir John A. Cumber’s Sean Evans was awarded The Justin Henry Memorial Award for the game’s Most Valuable Player.

As the curtain came down on another excellent season, the PFL Committee thanks the players, coaches, fans and volunteers for making this season another huge success

Special thanks to Dwayne Ebanks, Bruce Blake and Gary Whittaker who officiated games throughout the final day, and thanks to Chastine Rankine and Lazarus Moraes, who volunteered their time to officiate on other days and throughout the season. Special thanks to Ronnie Roach and Harcourt Wason who are instrumental in maintaining the high level of primary school sports on the Island.

Special thanks also to sponsors Progressive Distributors, who provided Gatorade to all the teams during the regular season and playoffs.

Final scores, standings and game reports from the regular season and Playoffs can be found on CUC’s website at www.cuc-cayman.com (on the Home Page, click “About Us”, then “Community Involvement” and “Primary Football League”).

We’ll see you again in October 2012.