Pele take BK International Western Tigers Super 8 title

… Deen hits double as GDF finish third
DESPITE being reduced to 10 men, coupled some questionable decisions from referee Otis James, Pele Football Club held off a determined and youthful Fruta Conquerors lineup, to take the inaugural BK International Western Tigers Super 8 title with a 2-1 victory at the Georgetown Football Club ground Sunday night.
In the battle for third place, Guyana Defence Force defeated the tournament’s host 3-0 in a lopsided affair, thanks to Delroy Deen’s first-half double strike.
To the surprise of many, Fruta Conquerors did not display any signs of fatigue following the 6-0 drubbing they handed Sunburst Camptown in their very own NAMILCO Festival last Friday night, as they took the fight to their opponents.
Led by Pernell Shultz and Vernon Mills at the top, backed by Jolyon Harry, Trevon Lythcott, Delon Williams and Joshua Browne in defence, Fruta Conquerors frustrated Pele in the first 15 minutes, which resulted in Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant being given marching orders by James following a reckless challenge on Browne during one of his overlapping runs for his team.
But while the Fruta Conquerors’ defence stood sturdy, Pele’s defence, led by the experienced Dirk Archer with valuable support from Sheik Kamal and skipper Solomon Austin, worked overtime to prevent Mills and Shultz from sending their team ahead, even though they were reduced to 10 men.
Pele’s Linden Simmons signalled his intention of handing his team the $500 000 first prize, when he eluded his three markers including Harry and Williams, but his shot was saved by Colin Edwards, who was given the job to protect Fruta Conquerors’ uprights.
Following Grant’s ejection from the match which was building up as the seconds went by, Kwame La Fleur received a wonderful pass from Mills, but his header went wide, while Mills sent a shot wide of the mark with Pele’s custodian Shawn Johnson nowhere in sight, as the Tucville-based team capitalised on the one-man advantage.
At the other end of the field, National Under-20 striker Sheldon Holder sent a beautiful shot to Conquerors’ goal area, but Edwards was equal to the task, but after he effected another save from a Simmons’ shot, Pele’s Marvin Joseph was brought down by Lythcott in the penalty area, with Konata Manning stepping up to take the shot and beating Edwards low to his right in the 25th minute.
Pele took over the dominant role after that, but were met by a sturdy defence from Fruta Conquerors along with Edwards who ensured Pele only held a one-goal advantage over his team at lemon time.
A purposeful-looking Fruta Conquerors lineup took the field for the second half, wherein James’ decisions were questionable, as handled balls took place in front of him and he ignored.
Nevertheless, Edwards continued to keep his team in the matchup, when he affected numerous saves from both Manning and Simmons, while at the other end, a Lythcott cross was too hard for an unmarked Dwayne Lawrence and Mark Walton.
Tavis Hackett’s introduction into the Fruta Conquerors’ lineup brought life to his team as the diminutive striker joined forces with Shultz and Mills to create havoc for Archer and company in Pele’s defence.
It was no surprise when Fruta Conquerors got the equaliser in the 78th minute through Hackett who found himself in place to calmly tap home a loose ball after Johnson failed to gather a shot from Mills, after the forward received a wonderful pass from Shultz.
Hackett, Lawrence, Walton and at times Shultz, orchestrated numerous raids on Pele’s goal area but found it difficult to get past Johnson and at the end of regulation time, the scores were level.
Miraculously, Joseph got one past a hapless-looking Edwards in the second minute of the first half of extra time to put his team back in the lead, which they defended sternly to take the title when the whistle sounded, despite the efforts of Hackett, Shultz, Lawrence, Mills and Walton.
GDF have themselves and their skipper Marlon Benjamin to blame for not coming away with a larger margin of victory over BK International Western Tigers, who were guilty of poor finishing, with their main culprits being national striker Dwayne Ali and Ryan Thomas.
After Deen’s double in the 9th and 25th minute, Benjamin capitalised on a hapless-looking Western Tigers lineup to find the back of the net in the 42nd minute that enabled GDF to have a comfortable 3-0 lead at lemon time.
BK Western Tigers came out in the second half with a determined look, but both Ali and Thomas found it difficult to get their shots off when presented with the opportunities, while Thomas muffed several one-on-one chances when faced with GDF’s custodian Delon Younge.
Benjamin also joined the sinners’ list for the night, when he himself failed to convert the six clear chances that were presented to him in a 10-minute period of the second half by his opponent’s defence, led by Christopher Williams and Vashile Cantzlaar in the absence of Sherman David.
Nevertheless, GDF held on to walk away with the $100 000 third prize, leaving their opponents to carry home $50 000 for their fourth-place finish, while Fruta Conquerors collected $200 000 and a trophy.
While they have not been named as yet, the highest goalscorer and most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament will be presented with individual prizes. The distribution of prizes will take place at a venue and date to be announced sometime this week.
The tournament was sponsored by BK International, Cummings Electrical, King’s Jewellery World, Star Party Rentals, Exclusive Boutique, Keishar’s Gift Shoppe, RBS Channel 13 and Ansa McAl among others, with some representatives of the sponsors being on hand to meet the teams.

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