The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) soccer season continued for the junior and senior divisions yesterday at the CH Reeves, DW Davis and CV Bethel soccer fields.

On the day, the seniors of the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins took on the CI Gibson Rattlers. Also, the RM Bailey Pacers matched up against the CC Sweeting Cobras.

For the juniors, DW Davis faced off against the HO Nash Lions and TA Thompson kicked things off with the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves.

Seniors

The senior girls of the CI Gibson Rattlers comfortably defeated the Mystic Marlins 3-0.

The Rattlers opened the bout 1-0 after Louisette Jean-Baptiste zipped past her opponents to score a goal. Her work was not done yet as she once again scored a goal to help her team advance to a 2-0 lead before halftime.

The team scored the final goal to increase the score by one to win 3-0 against the Mystic Marlins.

Michael Smith, head coach of the Rattlers, talked about how it felt to get the senior girls’ win.

“It’s a good win, the girls are young in the game, they are learning so this is going to boost their confidence going forward,” Smith said.

He added that Jean-Baptiste constantly attacks the goal in practice and, as the ball came to her in-game, she did her job and kicked it to the back of the net.

The Mystic Marlins returned the favour as their senior boys took down the Rattlers 3-2. In a game that was more competitive than the score reflected, the Mystic Marlins opened up the game 1-0. However, the Rattlers quickly countered after scoring a goal shortly thereafter to tie things up 1-1. The Mystic Marlins mounted another attack to sneak a goal past the goalie to go up 2-1. Both teams had two points apiece going into the halftime to make things exciting in the second half. The Mystic Marlins scored the final goal of the day to not only defeat the Rattlers but secure their first win of the GSSSA soccer season.

Vandyke Bethel, head coach of the Mystic Marlins, said he is happy to get their first win of the year as the boys are now learning how to play together and work collectively as a team. He said the team has a long term plan to build on the things that they have done this year going into next year. The coach added that one of his biggest coaching strategies was to teach the boys how to play possession soccer rather than just kicking the ball all game.

In more senior action, the RM Bailey Pacers’ senior girls toppled the CC Sweeting Cobras 2-0. Meanwhile, their senior boys dominated against the team winning 11-1.

Juniors

The HO Nash Lions defeated the DW Davis Royals juniors girls 2-0. The matchup between the junior boys ended in a tie with both teams only scoring one point each.

The Timberwolves’ junior boys wrapped up the Scorpions 6-0. Meanwhile, the girls matchup ended in a draw with both teams going scoreless.

Today’s GSSSA soccer action will kickoff at the DW Davis soccer field between the CH Reeves Raptors and AF Adderley Tigers. At the CH Reeves soccer field the LW Young Golden Eagles will take on the DW Davis Royals. For the seniors, the RM Bailey Pacers will take on the CR Walker Knights and the CC Sweeting Cobras will face off against the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves.