THE quarterfinalists of the Petra Organisation/GT Beer Futsal Tournament were decided following the final four preliminary matches on Wednesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.West Back Road, Sophia, West Front Road-Gold is Money and Bent Street made it into the final eight following victories over Beterverwagting (BV), Broad Street, Show Stoppers and North Ruimveldt, respectively.
This Sunday, September 6, four teams will exit the tournament while four teams will advance as Sophia tackle Bent Street in the first of four quarterfinal matches from 19:00hrs, West Front Road meet their opposite (West Back Road), then Sparta Boss take on Kitty Weavers.
The night will conclude with Festival City going head-to-head with Albouystown at 21:45hrs. The winners of these encounters will progress to the semi-final stage.
On a night where most of the goals were scored in the second half, West Front Road put forth an amazing performance to record a 7-6 come-from-behind victory.
Show Stoppers dominated the first half as Anthony Sancho completed a hat-trick before goals in the second, 12th and 15th minutes. He was also supported by Dexroy Adams who also scored on the brink of halftime.
Wendell (7th) and Hubert Pedro (14th) scored once each in the first 15 minutes to take West Front Road into the final 15 minutes trailing 2-4.
However, Pedro scored in the 24th and 27th to complete his hat-trick while Randolph Wagner on a burst of success recorded a hat-trick as well for the eventual victors. Wagner found the back of the net in the 27th and 28th minutes before he scored the match-decider in the final minute of play (30th).
His performance overshadowed the two second-half goals added by Show Stoppers from Simon Emmanuel and Lloyd Prince.
West Back Road strolled into the quarterfinal stage via a walkover from BV which meant the victors recorded an automatic 3-0 win.
In match two, Sophia dismantled Broad Street 10-4 after the two sides were deadlocked 2-2 at the half. Omallo Williams and Joshua Kamal scored in the second and 15th minutes for Sophia while Rocky and Jimmy Gravesande scored in the sixth and 13th minutes for the losing side.
The second half then rained goals as Sheik Kamal scored another on the night to strike three times. He was supported by Williams, Desmond Cottam and Shem Porter who all doubled. Kevon Cummings and Leon Richardson accounted for Broad Street’s other goals.
Bent Street squeezed past North Ruimveldt 7-6 in a nail-biting encounter to bring the curtain down. Like Wagner, Daniel Wilson scored the decider for Bent Street after the game was tied at 6, in the penultimate minute of play.
Wilson, who went on to score a brace of goals, recorded his first goal in the ninth while Okeene Fraser and Colin Nelson pitched in with a goal each to answer all three goals scored by the opposition. Joshua Browne toggled the score-line 16 seconds into the encounter then Gerald Gittens gave the side their second goal prior to Colin Daniels finding the third goal.
In the second half, Stellon David produced a double alongside Sheldon Profitt, who scored once to put pressure on North Ruimveldt before Wilson took the fight away.
Rickford Jones also recorded a second-half double in the match but those two goals along with Gittens’ second in the 29th were not enough to push them into the next round.
The winner of the tournament will take home $500 000 and the championship trophy, while second-, third- and fourth-place finishers will receive $250 000, $125 000 and $75 000 respectively.