CAY HILL— Curaçao won the Caribbean Football Union's Boys Under 15 Soccer Championship. Curaçao defeated the Dominican Republic in the final 4-2 at Raoul Illidge Sports Complex Sunday.
In the game for third place Cayman Island defeated St. Lucia 5-4 on penalties after the match ended deadlocked at 1-1.
In the final Dominican Republic played aggressively. On the opening kick off after first touch they launched the ball deep into the Curacao corner. The winger raced down the side-line but could not tack advantage. Curaçao played counter attack and had a shot on goal in the first minute and the second chance came in the fifth minute. But it was not until the eighth they were rewarded with a goal.
On the restart, Dominican Republic again went right on offense. After first touch the team captain fired the ball at the Curaçao goal. The last man got a foot on the ball and gave it a light tap back to the keeper. When he looked up the Dominican Republic captain was racing toward the ball and might have beat the keeper to it. Contact was made. A penalty awarded.
The wall blocked the shot and the rebound landed in front of the winger. The shot went wide. Curaçao led 1-0 at the half.
As play resumed Dominican Republic jumped out to a 2-1 lead but could not hang on.
Twelve countries competed in the first round of the tournament that was divided into three pools.
In pool one, playing their first round matches at the Raymond Guishard Technical Centre in Anguilla were Cayman Islands which won the group with nine points. Second was St. Lucia with six and was followed by Anguilla with three and US Virgin Islands at nil.
Pool two and three competed at Raoul Illidge Sports Complex.
Dominican Republic finished top of pool 2 with nine points. Grenada was second at six and followed by Bonaire and St. Kitts both with one point each.
Pool three consists of Curaçao finishing top with nine points. Antigua & Barbuda were second at six. St. Vincent and the Grenadines were third on three and followed by host St. Maarten at nil. St.
In the quarter finals Dominican Republic crushed St. Vincent 5-1. St. Lucia beat Grenada 4-0. Cayman bested Antigua 3-1 and Curacao blast Anguilla 7-0.
Dominican Republic beat Cayman 1-0 in the semi-finals while Curaçao eliminated St. Lucia 2-1.
