Scholars beat North Side

By Sheena Carten
Caymanian Compass

Scholars beat North Side 3-2 Sunday night in a game marred by several ugly incidents. Scholars Eric Brown was ambulanced away from the Ed Bush Stadium after clashing with a North Side player on the sideline and breaking his arm. As soon as Brown dropped to the ground, however, his teammates raced towards him. In some cases it appeared to have been to have a go at the referee.
Towards the end of the half, North Side's Andre Morgan was made walk after he apparently tackled from behind. The first half was poor and should be written off football-wise. Neither team had the chance to settle and as a result the football was poor.

The second half, however, was much better. Scholars scored three goals inside a matter of minutes.

North Side, down to 10 men, were playing well and their keeper Kent Sailor Rankine had a good game. Scholars, taking any chance they got, were denied several times by him.

The first of the Scholars goals came 12 minutes into the half. The second and third goals came within two minutes of each other about 14 minutes later. North Side's goals came late in the game. Always looking like they were going to score, a North Side player went for a shot and Whittaker, who was struggling with a leg injury, did well to save it with his side but the player went for a second try and this time beat him. Whittaker then appealed to be substituted but Scholars had used all their subs. So their player "Lanky" stepped in to goals and Scholars were playing with 10 men. As soon as Lanky had the gloves on, however, he faced a penalty. North Side's keeper stepped up to convert ending the game at 3-2.

It was unfortunate that the first half panned out the way it did. It could have been a decent game of football. But several things went wrong. When Brown was inured, the Scholars team should have been sent back to their positions. Instead, the referee allowed them to crowd an injured man. The incident held the game up for at least five minutes. No one was penalised for the incident involving Brown. Whether it was malicious or not, there seemed to be little communication between the referee and his linesmen about it.

A lack of discipline was displayed among both teams. Nasty comments from players towards the referee and to other players.
Again it was a pity because the second half wasn't bad.

There was plenty of drama in the game but, unfortunately, it was off the ball.