Cebtral youth center qualifies for final

Central Youth Centre yesterday (WEDNESDAY) qualified for the final of the First Khalid bin Hamad Youth Centres Football League, being held at Hamad Town Youth Centre grounds. A 1-1 draw with the South Youth Centre saw the Central Youth Centre go through with a 3-2 aggregate, having won the first leg 2-1 last Sunday. The Central Youth Centre will now play in the title showdown against Safra, who made it to the final after a dramatic 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory over Isa Town in the earlier-played semi-final playoff. The final, which has been rescheduled for December 14 to coincide with Bahrain's National Day celebrations, will be held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. In last night's decider, South Youth Centre were hoping to avenge their 1-2 defeat in the first leg and progress into the final. Instead, they conceded a goal just before half-time when former East Riffa and present national futsal team member Mahmood Abdulrazzaq fired in the 45th minute to give the Central Youth Centre a morale-boosting lead. Needing three goals to qualify, South Youth Centre continued to fight and they had back some hope early in the second-half when they found the equaliser through veteran striker Ahmed Al Khayyat. And despite their efforts and increasing their pressure, the South Youth Centre were unable to break through again as the Central Youth Centre showed well-organised teamwork and solid defence as they held on to the one-goal aggregate advantage and a place in the final. The organisers have been successful in providing an incentive for football fans to attend the tournament games by giving away fabulous awards through raffle draws on the free tickets at the gate entry. The tournament, being organised for the first time, got underway with 16 teams from across Bahrain's five governorates vying for the trophy. The tournament is being organized by the General Organization for Youth and Sports (Goys), patronised by First Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. It's being sponsored by GPIC, while ABS Network, Kooora.com and Khaleej Times have signed on as media sponsors.