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Holy Family, Balmagie win Insports primary titles
December 15, 2025
Holy Family and Balmagie Primary schools were crowed Insports Kingston and St Andrew Primary school football champions, after both had penalty shootout wins over Alpha and St Richards, respectively, at UWI Bowl, Mona, on Friday.
Balmagie defeated St Richards 4-3 on penalties, after both teams played out a 0-0 draw, in the St Andrew championship battle.
Alpha came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Holy Family, who eventually emerged 3-1 on penalty kicks to win the Kingston finale.
In the opening game, Holy Family twice took the lead through Neymar Walker (30th, 41st). But Alpha equalised through Whyon Reid (34th) and Akeel Gayle (60+1).
However, Holy Family netted three times from the spot, while their opponents only converted one of their four attempts.
Holy Family's coach Kurt Brooks said hard work and dedication paid off.
"This is a combination of hard work and dedication. This is the icing on the cake. This is all credit to the players. They really dug deep and that's why we are victors," he said.
"In the first half Alpha nullified us. In the second half we came alive and they got a goal against the run of play. But we were not worried. We were confident we could get the job done."
VIBRANT SUPPORT
In the St Andrew final, the teams, buoyed by vibrant supporters, gave all they had in a very competitive match.
St Richards thought they found the breakthrough in the second half, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper.
However, in the shootout, goalkeeper Ajani Samuels made two excellent saves, while scoring one of the spot kicks to give his school the win
Winning coach Donald Eccleston said the game was as tough as he anticipated.
"Coming into the game we knew St Patrick's were going to come strong and they did. So we didn't get to display the type of ball we wanted to, because they came at us. But we pulled off the victory and we give God thanks," he said.
He had special praise for Samuels.
"It (shootout) was very nerve-racking, especially when my reliable player Israel Hewitt, who is a good penalty kicker, missed," Eccleston said.
"But our goalkeeper was great. He might be short, but he is a great goalkeeper and I knew he would come up big for the team," he added.
St Richards' coach Herssely Campbell said they played a good match and were unfortunate to leave empty-handed.
"It was a great game of football. We just have to pick ourselves up and come back next year," he said.
"We are disappointed as we got a goal and it was disallowed, but in penalties, anything goes."
