LIGUANEA United Coach Mitchily Waul says he was always positive about his side’s chances against Norbrook Strikers Academy in Saturday’s final of the Milo Under-12 Football Championship Cup at The UWI Mona Bowl.

Liguanea prevailed 1-0 in the tightly contested all-island championship match, turning the table on Norbrook whom they had lost to in penalty shoot-out when the teams clashed in the zonal final weeks ago.

“I was very confident that we would have brought home this Cup,” Waul told the Jamaica Observer.

“Though we lost the final in the regional, we weren’t scared about that. We know what we did in that final and we saw some good stuff, so we went into training and improved on those,” the former Reggae Boyz player explained.

“At Liguanea we’ve had these boys from a young age — some of them from they were four years old — and we pay a lot of attention to football development at the youth stage, and we pay attention to the components that are required,” the Liguanea Under-12 coach added.

Waul, who came up through Jamaica’s various youth set-ups before transitioning to the senior level, praised the sponsors and organisers for putting together a competition that focuses on the grass roots.

“This is an awesome competition focused on youth development, and as coaches we were very excited about it because at this level is where the development happens,” explained the 37-year-old Waul, who represents Jamaica in beach football and futsal and who also plays for Liguanea in the Super League club football competition.

In the quarter-finals of the Milo Championship Cup on Saturday, Chetwood Primary edged out Joga Bonito Academy 1-0; Corinaldi Primary beat Errol Stevens Academy 2-1; Liguanea defeated Young Boyz United 2-1; and Norbrook Strikers Academy had a 2-0 victory over Clarendon Sporting Academy.

In the semis, Liguanea beat Chetwood 7-0 while Norbrook Strikers earned their final spot by defeating Corinaldi 3-2 on penalties, after the teams were locked 1-1 in regulation time.

The Milo Under-12 Football Championship Cup began on July 23 with 48 teams across the island, separated in four zones. The zones comprise: Corporate, which features teams from Kingston and St Andrew; West, covering the parishes of Westmoreland, St James, Trelawny and Hanover; East, comprising St Ann, St Mary, Portland and St Thomas; and Central, consisting of St Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth.

— Sanjay Myers