7 News Belize

Premier League Championship
posted (May 28, 2013)
Whenever members of the Police Department are featured in the news, it is always in their official capacity, or when there are allegations of wrongdoing.

Well tonight, the story about Police has nothing to do with business as usual! It's about the Police United Football Club played against FC Belize in the 2013 finals of the Premier League of Belize on Saturday night.

Daniel Ortiz saw them in action as ordinary civilians supporting their football club in their third trip to the finals. Here's that story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
The final match exploded into excitement within 15 minutes when FC Belize scored the first goal for the night.

It came after a beautiful pass from Mark 'Kelo' Leslie who beat his defender and put the ball in the air, setting up Michael Hernandez for a surprise header.

That first goal allowed FC Belize to establish themselves very early on in the game, putting intense pressure on Police United.

After that, Police United picked up the pace, determined to try to win back that goal.

The game was made even more difficult because a series of intermittent rains which soaked the field, making it difficult for either side to set up any plays.

Both teams battled back and forth like that for the entire first half, but neither side would give any ground.

FC Belize had momentum on their side, and the few of the attacks that Police United managed to mount, was deflected by the FC Belize Goalkeeper.

The first half of the game ended with a score 1- 0 in the favor of FC Belize, which would have forced overtime because Police United won the previous game.

So, Sergeant Gamboa, acting as mascot, was determined to get the Police United fans on their feet to swing the momentum in their favor. And boy did he give them a show, displaying great, unexpected athleticism.

After that display, the second half began with both teams trying very hard to score 1 goal, which would have determined the match and the finals.

Police United patiently drilled into the FC defence, and 25 minutes later, they were rewarded with a goal from Daniel Jimenez.

Ecstatic that they have a strong chance now, Police United celebrated their first goal for the game. This was really the deciding moment of the match because after that, both sides battled back and forth, but each side defended very well. A few seconds before the end of the match, the Police United fans already knew that they were going to win, and they broke out the fireworks in celebration of the moment.

And when that whistle blew, the fans worked themselves into a frenzy.

After all, it is their first champion since the Police United Football Club entered the Premier League of Belize.

Andres McKain Sr. - Headcoach, Police United
"This is our third trip to the finals and the first two we became sub-champions and we decided that this trip we had spoken to the team prior to coming here and we said we've been at this point for two finals."





Daniel Ortiz
"Tell us about what you guys did to control the second half of the game after those guys established themselves and FC Belize with the goal in the first couple minutes."


Lennox 'Criminal' Castillo - Forward, Police United
"Well as the goal scored we came together and I talked to my tea mates and I told them it wasn't over as yet because it's only one - nil and we're good at coming back and that is what we did."









Daniel Jimenez - Forward, Police United
"I took my time, I didn't go to fast with the ball and I kept my position and because of the wet conditions I had wanted the ball to bounce before but it didn't so it passed the man and it went there."








Superintendent Alford Grinage - Manager, Police United
"It takes a lot of administrative work to manage a team - we have to be out night and day trying to get funds for the purpose to take the team forward. It takes a lot of work as a police officer as well because I have to spend time away from my family and also spend more time with the team as well."






Deputy Commissioner Elodio Aragon - General Manager, Police United
"The Police United Football team deserved this win, it was a long time coming - it's here today and we are proud and happy. I think if you look at the history of how we played this season we had our ups and down and a lot had to do with operational aspects of the police have to do other duties with new transfers, etc. But we were able to come back together and re-focus and we were able to bring vitroy today for the Police United - it was not easy, sports in Belize is not an easy thing especially football."

According to the management of the team, the players will take a brief cool down period, and they plan to jump back into training because they want to become the 2014 champions.

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