7 Miles wins Cayo 1st Division Football Championship in Final marred by violence

Photo Credit: Cayo FA

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: 7 Miles blew away Esperanza 4-1 to win the Cayo Football Association 1^st Division Championship in a Final marred by violence and that had to be stopped before time was up.

The match was played on Saturday evening at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio.

According to the official report, both teams went at each other coupled with fan interference after players Jeremy Gentle of Esperanza and Carlos Santos of 7 Miles were red carded after they punched each other in minute 68. With the free-for-all ensuing with fans breaking the fence and storming the field, the referee called off the game in the 73^rd minute with 7 Miles declared the champs as they were leading 4-1.

7 Miles routed Esperanza nailing in three goals in the first 20 minutes. Frankli Godoy opened the score in the sixth minute, Alan Godoy made it 2-0 in the 11^th, and Alfred Zetina increased it to 3-0 in the 20^th. Then, as the second half started, Roberto Santos blew it away in the 47^th minute. The 4-0 seemed insurmountable.

But Esperanza fought back and shook the net in the 49^th on a goal by David Trapp.

Then, the game got out of hand.

Despite all the fracas, the Cayo Football Association officials along with the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) President Sergio Chuc were able to distribute the awards and trophies after the match.

7 Miles collected all but one of the individual Awards: MVP (Dwight Zetina), Best Goalkeeper (Alex Hernandez), Top Scorer (Alfred Zetina), Best Defender (Frankli Godoy), Best Coach (Gener Verganza), Best Disciplined Team, 7 miles.

Jervi Cante of Esperanza received the Best Midfielder award.

The Cayo Football Association led by President Earl Trapp is now getting ready for the Cayo 1^st Division Closing Championship and was registering teams on Wednesday. The district tournaments should finish by May as the FFB is kicking off its National Inter District Championship then.