RBNYFL 25: Jones fires Creek into U-14 quarters as Beatnix hold off Blue Hawks

Newly-crowned East Zone U-14 champions Beatnix Sports Club survived a fierce fightback from Blue Hawks FC to keep their unbeaten run alive in the 2025 Republic Bank National Youth Football League (RBNYFL) on Saturday at the Arima Velodrome.

Already assured of the title going into the final round, Beatnix led 2-0 with goals from Devonte Saldenha and Zidan Tinto with four minutes to go before Blue Hawks mounted an unlikely comeback.

Ajani George scored directly from a corner to halve the deficit before Abayomi Hope blasted in the equalizer to draw the Blue Hawks level.

They poured forward for the winner but a rattled Beatnix SC team held on for the draw, eliminating their opponents from the competition.

“It means a lot to the team because last year we came third and the year before we came second,” said Beatnix coach Brandon Reyes. “We needed to get our hands on the gold!”

For the Blue Hawks, it was a bittersweet finale.

“I usually say that football can be a cruel game at times but we’re on the end of it where we got two opportunities and we put them in,” said Blue Hawks coach Brandon Cuffy. “[…] It was too late but it was good that it happened.”

Creek Sports and Cultural Club claimed the second knockout stage spot after prolific midfielder Aaden Jones scored all four goals in a 4-1 triumph over Cardinals Football Academy.

Creek pipped Blue Hawks on goal difference, after both teams ended on 14 points.

In the other two matches, Arima Araucans Academy edged FC Santa Rosa 1-0, while San Juan Jabloteh clipped the AIA Eagles 11-0.

Incredibly, Asaiah Alexander scored 10 goals for Jabloteh—the largest tally by any player in a single game for the season.

With 12 goals in the first two games of the day, football fans at the Arima Velodrome were expecting more fireworks as the time approached for the final two games of the East Zone Under-14 group stage.

First, third-placed Creek SCC had to beat struggling Cardinals FA and hope that Beatnix did not lose to Blue Hawks, to ensure their passage to the knockout round.

Arima-based Creek scored a zone-high 26 goals in their six matches with Jones notching two hat-tricks among his nine goals for the season. However, coach Lincoln “Linky” Augustus’ team had only taken one point from their last two games and needed a win in the worst possible way.

Cardinals were already out of the tournament, taking only seven points from their six games.

Gyasi Nkrumah’s team, winners of the 2023 and 2024 North Zone U14 titles, compete in the East Zone this year—32km from their Mandela Park, Port-of-Spain training ground.

Creek SCC, without defensive midfielder Kymani Huggins in the starting XI, deployed Jones in front of their back four. Perhaps not coincidentally, their offence failed to fire early in the first half.

Cardinals’ goalkeeper Elijah Fernandez was called upon to make a couple of routine saves in the first 15 minutes, and had to watch in dismay as his captain Angelo Fairchild and midfielder Jaheim Guy failed to hit the target.

After the water break, Creek’s offence sputtered to life with Lael Augustus shooting wide twice late in the first half.

But that was as good as it got in a tepid first 35 minutes, poisoned by nervous energy and the weight of the moment.

When Creek SCC emerged in the second half, Huggins was introduced to babysit the defence and Jones was pushed into attack.

Within five minutes, the teenager from Victory Street, Arima had the ball in the back of the net with the first of four one-touch finishes.

Running onto a ball played over the top, Jones outdistanced the defender like a Rolls Royce sweeping past a B14, before caressing the ball past Fernandez for the goal.

Eight minutes later, the Creek forward delightfully volleyed in a second after an astute one-two with Antonio Frank.

Creek were still not in top gear but humming along well with Jones pulling the strings in the offensive third and Huggins battening down the hatches at the back.

Inevitably, Jones got on the scoresheet again to complete his hattrick after another give-and-go—this time with substitute Isaiah Marshall.

Augustus assigned Marshall to maraud down the right flank and his quick reverse pass released Jones into space. The attacker took a look before guiding the ball into the back of the net with another assured side-footed finish.

Cardinals had their best moment of the match in the 65th minute when Nevan Clarke scored, after good work from Obadiah Steel.

However, Jones had the last say, ending a lightning Creek SCC counterattack, with a one-time, right-footed finish that had “good night” written all over it.

Jones finished the preliminary stage of the tournament with 13 goals, inclusive of a beaver-trick, and two hat-tricks.

“Jones is a very good player, technically and he is very strong,” said coach Augustus. “He could really strike the ball. I was working with him [on that] because sometimes he wants to hit the ball too hard.

“So, I was working with him on just finishing clinically [by] getting the ball away from the keeper.”

Augustus explained that he was forced to play Jones deep in the first half because Huggins lacks the fitness to play the full game. He said his team executed his plans to perfection in the second half.

“This other team was packing their players on one side, so they were always open on the blind side. So, I asked Kymani, when he got that ball to switch the point of attack early enough,” he said.

“And even the wingers, when they get it to serve it early so the men coming round the back could get it, and it worked.”

Cardinals’ coach Nkrumah, who also coaches at Newtown Boys Primary and St Mary’s College, was proud of his young team’s showing in the tournament.

“At the end of the day, you have to be realistic,” he said. “Like I said, most of these boys are 12, some are still 11. So, if you are playing against boys who are already 14, they are already bigger in size physically.

“We don’t pay much attention to what the other team is doing, especially at this stage—it is just about development for the boys. So, what we do in training, we put it into practice during the game.”

The Cardinals coach is still bemused as to why his team is playing in the East Zone after winning consecutive titles in the North Zone U14.

“We are the two-time defending champions from the North Zone,” he said. “So, we are playing in the East? So, that is a question right there.”

Job done for Creek SCC. They were now in second place, and all they needed was Beatnix SC to see off Blue Hawks to seal their place in the next round.

Table-toppers Beatnix were the form team of the East Zone, but their five-match winning streak was ended in the last round when they drew 1-1 with Creek.

Blue Hawks suffered their first defeat of the season in the last round, soundly beaten 3-0 by the improving Arima Araucans.

It was a costly reversal and only victory would take them above Creek and into the knockout stage of the tournament.

The league leaders did not disappoint their fans and started positively, dominating the first half without creating a lot of goal-mouth action.

Beatnix did come close late in the first half with Shomari Hartman and Zidan Tinto, the son of former national player Hayden Tinto, denied in quick succession by Blue Hawks’ custodian Yanis Charles.

With half-time beckoning, Blue Hawks gave the ball away on their left flank allowing Beatnix to launch a quick raid.

Hartman turned defender Kymani Samuel, who, attempting to recover, clipped the Beatnix attacker and sent him to the ground inside the penalty box.

Referee Tyrell Wilson pointed to the spot.

Devonte Saldenha made no mistake with the spot-kick, lashing it high into the net to the right of Charles.

“It was a clear penalty,” said Beatnix coach Brandon Reyes. “The game was pretty rugged throughout. There were a lot of tackles where the referee wasn’t calling. I believe that one was clear enough where he saw it and we went on top.”

Reyes and Blue Hawks coach Brando Cuffy had different messages to their teams during the half-time break.

At the halftime break, Reyes said he encouraged his players to keep control of the ball to help them save their legs. Under the other tent, Blue Hawks coach Brandon Cuffy assured his players that they were still in the game.

Beatnix dominated again at the restart with Dmitri Hajaree and Saldenha coming close to doubling their lead. Their second goal, nine minutes into the second half, had a slice of luck to it though.

Hajaree’s hopeful shot from outside the area was inexplicably mishandled by Charles, with the ball looping over the goalkeeper’s head and towards the goal.

The Blue Hawks goalkeeper dived back to claw the ball away from his net, but it landed straight at the feet of Tinto, who took a reassuring touch before notching Beatnix’s second goal.

As the teams went into the second half water-break, one might have anticipated that the final 15 minutes would be a snooze-fest.

The heavens opened as the referee’s whistle went to restart play and the change in weather seemed to bring a change in fortunes for the Blue Hawks.

With 10 minutes to go and Blue Hawks needing three goals to avert elimination, Beatnix brought on two of their youngest players to get some playing time.

Reyes would later say that what happened after was a stark reminder that a 2-0 lead is no lead in football.

Blue Hawks earned a corner with four minutes to go and George, who had not had a great game up to that point, went to take the kick.

He directed the corner low towards the first post where a Beatnix defender missed his clearance, with the ball whistling between his legs beyond surprised goalkeeper Grayon Clarke.

Blue Hawks had a goal in the most unlikely of ways and endorphins—individual and collective—surged through the team.

Two minutes later, they were level.

Hope sprung the offside trap, racing onto a long ball and slammed his shot past Clarke to equalize.

Beatnix were stunned and Blue Hawks were only a goal away from reclaiming their spot in the next round. They came furiously at Beatnix with George emerging as the unlikely leader of the most unlikely of comebacks.

The Blue Hawks forward took the ball towards goal and with 25 meters to the net, hit a powerful right-footed drive—an effort that lifted his entire body off the ground.

A Beatnix defender stuck out a foot and desperately diverted the ball out for a corner.

As George raced over to take the set piece, the final whistle went to the soundtrack of howls of dismay from the Blue Hawks supporters.

Their brave fightback was over. Beatnix were always going to go through, but the Blue Hawks were out.

“Probably if the game was a bit longer, the confidence could have taken them all the way to get the three points,” said Beatnix coach Reyes. “The margins are quite small in this game. One mistake could help the [opposition] grow a lot of confidence. They kept pushing, they got another.”

Cuffy noted that Hawks’ goals came when they put the ball down and played in their preferred style.

“If we had done that whole game, it might have been a different scoreline,” he said.

Cuffy was proud of his team’s showing and feels they will put in a good performance in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) as Trinity College East.

“A lot of our guys are very tiny, and I saw the improvement in them,” he said. “Yes, we have stuff to work on, but I was proud of them to actually come together and try to do what we are telling them to do.

“It was a good offseason.”

As for Reyes, he says his charges are ready for the challenge of the quarterfinals.

“Going forward, I believe we have a great chance,” he said. “I believe we have a strong enough team to go all the way.”

(Teams)

Creek SCC (4-5-1): 1.Jelani Marchan (GK); 15.Elijah Ellis, 4.Makaio Brown, 21.Isaiah Gill, 18.Nathaniel Wren; 8.Joshua York, 13.Jaydon West, 10.Aaden Jones (captain), 7.Lael Augustus, 12.Antonio Frank; 11.Jeremiah Gomez.

Substitutes: 3.Keyon Alexander, 5.Kalem Oliver, 6.Kymani Huggins, 9.Isaiah Marshall, 16.Antwan Thomas, 17.Lebron Thomas, 19.Daryll JR Fraser, 20.Liam Metivier, 23.Bradshaw Virgil.

Coach: Lincoln Augustus.

Cardinals FA (4-3-3): 1.Elijah Fernandes (GK); 23.Akil Williams, 2.Joseph Superville, 4.Daniel Rodney, 26.Jeevanne Lewis; 11.Jaheim Guy, 6.Ky-Mani Kanhai, 12.Angelo Fairchild (captain); 50.Obadiah Steele, 9.Dylan Suarez Lugo, 22.Nevan Clarke.

Substitutes: 3.Kadir Henry, 15.Mateo Rodriguez, 17.Azaylan John-Baptiste, 18.Jaelon Lewis, 20.Dominic Voisin, 21.Kurdon Sorzano, 25.Jaeveonne Lewis, 27.Samuel Thomas, 31.Bruce Williams.

Coach: Gyasi Nkrumah.

Referee: Colin Smith.

Beatnix FC (4-3-3): 1.Grayon Clarke (GK); 4.Triston Bardo, 3.Nigel Hackett, 15.Abiel Harris, 12.Kyron Sylvester; 5.Jordan Smith, 17.Dmitri Hajaree, 10.Devonte Saldenha; 9.Kemani Holder, 8.Zidan Tinto, 11.Shomari Hartman.

Substitutes: 7.Caleb Ramsaroop, 13.Israel Charles, 14.Mackel Seaton, 16.Nival Mahadeo, 18.Azari Johnson, 19.Mosiah Thomas, 20.Thierry Noray, 21.Keanu Greig.

Coach: Brandon Reyes.

Blue Hawks (4-3-3): 1.Yanis Charles (GK); 5.Aaron-Jhamai Windsor, 20.Kymani Samuel, 12.Aidon Barnwell, 17.Jamaal Sealy; 21.Liam Horsford, 8.Nickolai Armstrong-Hinds, 15.Malachi Bramble; 19.Kadir Selvon, 16.Rea’Jean Vanloo, 14.Ajani George.

Substitutes: 2.Kai Horsford, 3.Giovanni Figaro, 4.Kymani McClatchie, 9.Josiah Pacheco, 10.Joel Quashie, 11.Abayomi Hope, 13.Andres Perry, 18.Zarius Reid.

Coach: Brandon Cuffy.

Referee: Tyrell Wilson.

RBNYFL 2025 weekend results

East Zone

Boys Under-14

(Saturday 4 April)

AIA Eagles 0, San Juan Jabloteh 11 (Asaiah Alexander 5, 23, 32, 33, 47, 50, 55, 63, 66, 67, Saddique Salandy 39) at Arima Velodrome;

Santa Rosa FC 0, Arima Araucans Academy 1 (Janio Marcano 31) at Arima Velodrome;

Creek SC 4 (Aaden Jones 40, 43, 57, 66), Cardinals FA 1 (Nevan Clarke 65) at Arima Velodrome;

Blue Hawks 2 (Ajani George 66, Abayomi Hope 68), Beatnix SC 2 (Devonte Saldenah pen 35, Zidan Tinto 49) at Arima Velodrome;

U-14 Standings (Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Goals For-Goals Against-Points)

Beatnix SC          7-5-2-0-21-5–17

Creek SC             7-4-2-1-30-6-14

Blue Hawks         7-4-2-1-15-10–14

Araucans              7-4-0-3-8-7-12

Jabloteh             7-3-2-2-22-8-11

Cardinals            7-2-1-4-13-17-7

Santa Rosa          7-1-0-6-7–25–3

AIA                       7-0-1-6-1-38–1

Central Zone

Under-14 Division

(Sunday 5 April)

Premier SC 2 (Khilon Charles 59, Soren Shade 62), Waterloo Tigers 0 at Frederick Settlement;

Cooper’s Academy vs Maloney RFA at Frederick Settlement;

*–Cooper’s Academy win by default;

T&T Maestros vs Crown Trace FC at Frederick Settlement;

*–Maestros win by default.

U-14 Standings (Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Goals For-Goals Against-Points)

Premier SC         6-6-0-0-30–1–18

T&T Maestros    6-4-1-1-15-5-13

FC Tigers            6-4-0-2-15-8-12

Waterloo Tigers 6-3-1-2-12-7-10

Crown Trace      7-2-0-5-14-25-6

Cooper’s CA       6-1-1-4-11-26–4

Maloney RFA     6-1-1-4-9-24-4

Evolution FC      5-0-2-3-10-20-2

North Zone

Under-14 Division

(Saturday 5 April)

AC POS 1 (Mikhi Miguel James 66), City FC 8 (Eli-Akim Nelson 4 pen, 26, Jiair Nanton 24, 32, Keanu Sealey 43, 46, Scott Thompson 60, Aiden Barker 72) at Mucurapo East Secondary;

Pro Series 3 (Kymanni Nicholls 5, Zaa’van Joseph 8, Nasique George 16), Moka Lions 3 (Anthony King 49, Terrell Harris 60 pen, 67) at East Mucurapo Secondary;

Project Pro 1 (Christian Morean 44), Dibe Dragons 3 (Trevon Reefer 49, Colelle Marcano 70, Kemuel Forte 70+5) at East Mucurapo Secondary;

Trendsetter Hawks 6 (Nickel Gordon 28, Israel Wickham 33, 41, 64, Kyle Padmore 36, OG 37), Santa Cruz United 0 at East Mucurapo Secondary;

U-14 Standings (Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Goals For-Goals Against-Points)

Pro Series       7-6-1-0-27-6-19

City FC           7-5-1-1-29-5-16

Trendsetter    7-5-1-1-24-3–16

Moka Lions    7-2-2-3-13-12-8

Santa Cruz     7-2-2-3-9-16-8

Dibe Dragons 7-2-1-4-8-24-7

Project Pro     7-1-1-5-8-18-4

AC POS          7-0-1-6-4–38–1

Editor’s Note: See Wired868 on Monday night for full weekend round-up.