Bowfoot lights up the MCC, and lights out for San Pedro
Posted: 28/12/2007 - 12:06 PM
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It was dubbed a monster match-up of the nail-biting variety, as the San Pedro Dolphins touched down on the MCC on Sunday afternoon, December 23, for a Yuletide showdown with defending back-to-back champions, F.C. Belize; and it was such for the first half, ending in a 1-1 stalemate. But, after weathering an early dangerous attempt after resumption of hostilities in the 2nd half, the defending champs exploded for four spectacular goals that left San Pedro fans in a state of shock, as their beloved Dolphins were overwhelmed by the scintillating performance of F.C.’s second half substitute striker, Jermaine “Bowfoot” Zuniga, who had the game of his lifetime, scoring twice and assisting on the other two.
The game was fairly evenly matched in the first half, with San Pedro’s Deris “Colombia” Benavides carrying the action in midfield, and eventually being rewarded with a penalty after being taken down on one of his drives into the penalty area at the 30-minute mark. F.C.’s goalie, Elroy Rowley guessed right and made a desperate dive to his own right, but the Dolphin’s Paraguayan sweeper, Felix Alvarez, was not thinking of “out-placing” anyone; he simply blasted the penalty high and wide of Rowley, so that the net was tightening before he was fully airborne in a vain attempt to deflect the missile. 1-nil San Pedro.
But it was a game effort from F.C.’s own midfield that managed to tie things up just before the intermission. Left midfielder Chris Gilharry took a drive down the left wing, broke back and managed to evade two defenders on his way into the eighteen and across goal, then pushed the ball past his last challenger for his on-coming midfield teammate Thomas Castro, whose right-away left-foot shot from close range went towards the opening on the right side, an impossible task for San Pedro’s goalkeeper, Derol Roches, who barely moved as the net tightened up. 1-1 ball game; and 25 seconds later, the half-time whistle.
The story of the second half was simple: Jermaine “Bowfoot” Zuniga. A long time F.C. striker, Thedran Reid, who has not seen action for a while, had teamed up with lead striker, Jeromy “Jarro” James, up front in the first half; and though he didn’t score, Thedran, with his aggressive tackling and fast running, gave the Dolphins’ defenders a different look, and was effective in wearing them down some in the first half. San Pedro made no half-time changes; but when Bowfoot entered the game to replace Thedran to start the 2nd half, it was obvious that he was “in a zone”.
Bowfoot is fast, but, fresh off the bench, he seemed faster. And he was deceptive in his moves, incisive in his passing, and decisive in his strikes at goal, electrifying the F.C. attack; and, with the attention he immediately demanded from the Dolphins defence, for perhaps the first time this season, afforded star striker, Jarro, the luxury of a little more space to operate, and a teammate that was totally in harmony with his every move.
San Pedro had a brief moment of hope ten minutes into the 2nd half when their right midfield Orlando Ramirez’s corner from the east side of the northern goal found the expert head of their sweeper Felix Alvarez, whose powerful header bounced hard on the ground, then up towards the right “pigeon hole”, with F.C.’s goalie Elroy Rowley leaping and stretching with full extension to just tip the ball over the cross bar at the last moment to dash the Dolphins’ hopes for a go-ahead goal. Elroy was outstanding in goal today, and this brilliant save may have signaled the turning of the tide, as it was all F.C. thereafter.
Bowfoot’s first goal came at the 59th minute when a loose ball, from a Dolphins defender’s tackle of Jarro on the left side just inside the eighteen, drained across to the right and found an alert Bowfoot unleashing a right-away right-foot bomb into the left corner. Goalkeeper Roches barely moved. 2-1 F.C. Eight minutes later it was a long drive from F.C.’s sweeper Albert “Allie” Thurton that bounced high through a crowd of San Pedro defenders and F.C. forwards, with Bowfoot quickest to recover and pounce on the bouncing ball, tipping it over the head of the advancing keeper and into the open net for his second goal. 3-1 F.C. Belize; and it wasn’t over yet.
Four minutes later, at the 71st minute, it was Jarro’s turn. It was a beautiful attacking one-touch play, starting with Bowfoot to Jarro, then back to Bowfoot, whose heel pass split the San Pedro defence for a cutting Jarro, who emerged through the open space at full speed with a quick and deadly right-foot shot, low, to the right side of the southern “Seaview” goal; 4-1 F.C. And it still wasn’t over. Three minutes later, at the 74th, it was Jarro to Bowfoot on the left side, Jarro then cutting right, and Bowfoot sending the overhead center to the right side, beating the Dolphins defence, and Jarro, on the one bounce, sending a right-foot volley in the same place; low and hard in the right corner. 5-1 F.C. Belize. And that’s the way it ended.
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