FORMER national striker Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams was in ripping form for Slingerz Football Club last Friday night, when he found the back of the net three times, guiding his team to an impressive 5-0 victory over Beavers Football Club, when the two sides met in the Vitamalt/Aqua Mist-sponsored West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) Knockout Cup at the Den Amstel Community Centre ground.Abrams, who now plies his trade on the West Side after moving from the dominant City side and local club champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United, proved that he still is a top marksman in the world’s largest sport, locally, cutting the Beavers defence to shreds with his speed, skill and impeccable ball control.

Despite the win, the West Demerara champions were made to work hard for the victory as Beavers, who were upset winners over Young Achievers in their opening game showed some early tenacity and managed to repel some initial invasions by their more illustrious opponents.
Abrams opened the scoring in the 20th minute, after he was left unmarked by the Beavers defender and latched on to a well weighted pass from the left and beat Beavers’ custodian in the 20th minute to open the score sheets for his team.
Three minutes later Tichard Joseph found the back of the net in the 23rd minute to double the lead for Slingerz, doing so from outside the penalty area, slipping the ball past a hapless-looking Beavers custodian.
Buoyed by their quick success, Slingerz added another through Abrams, who showed his class as he ran on to a bouncing offer from midfield, dinked it over the rushing defender, swivelled and fired a one-time shot into he roof of the net in the 26th minute for 3-0 to Slingerz, – a scoreline they maintained up to lemon time.
The second half saw an early attempt by Beavers to make it a game, but Slingerz who were well drilled by head coach Joseph ‘Bill’ Wilson proved too strong and disciplined to be breached as they controlled the run of play.
A free kick won in the 83rd minute, nestled in the back of the net by a thunderous right-footer from Colin Nelson which eluded the grasp of the custodian and two minutes later, Abrams completed his hattrick, with a right footer that had goal written all over it from the time it left his boot.
The scoreline remained that way until the final whistle sounded, as Slingerz underlined their supremacy as the number one team on the West Side with the greatest of ease.
Earlier, Pouderoyen cruised to a comfortable 2-0 triumph over Stewartville with Tenie Lopes (74th) and Adrian Giddings (85th) being the players on target for the winners while the competition continued yesterday with a double-header at the same venue.
In the opening clash, Eagles with Kerron Schmidt, Anton Nicholson, Jalen Williams and Stephon Griffith took on Uitvlugt who have in their lineup the likes of Seon Bobb, Jermaine Accra and Robert Christiani while the feature game showcased Den Amstel hosting Wales in what is anticipated to be a keen matchup.
Delon Lanferman, Morris Charles, Marvin Henry and Ryan Hunte were leading Den Amstel’s charge while Wales will look to Kenton Boyce, Mark Mohamed and Kelvin Roberts to charter their course to victory.