THE Linden leg of the Banks DIH-promoted 2016 Guinness Greatest of de Streets Football championship began on Friday night with some exciting matches and the elimination of teams in light of the winners advancing at the tournament venue, the Mackenzie Car Park.The now annual football spectacle is being played during the Linden Town Week celebrations which are being held in collaboration with the country’s 50th Independence anniversary activities.
The first game saw Speightland and Future Stars playing to a 1-1 stalemate with Roy Cornelius netting for the Speightland side in the 11th minute and Future Stars replying through Jashawn Moore in the 16th minute.
The second game of the night ended with Classic Six brushing aside Trend Setters 3-1, as the winners were led by a double from Shane Lucky with goals in the 6th and 19th minutes of the game and the other coming off the boot of Colwyn Drakes in the 11th minute. The one strike by the losers was from Taffon Alexander in the 17th minute.
Eagles then shut out Unruly Shots with a 3-0 whipping behind Dellon Charter’s double, which came in the 3rd and 11th minutes, while the other was by Benny Neblett in the 16th minute.
Another 3-0 scoreline was replicated when Royal Youths blew past Trainline Warriors who failed to put up a resistance as Denzil Pryce’s double in the 2nd and 14th minutes and another from Kwesi Tafawa ended any hopes of the Warriors.
The fifth game ended 2-2, but East Side Jammers prevailed over Scheme 2-1 on penalty kicks.
The Scheme had gotten goals from Manatambu Akbar in the 5th and 8th minutes, while East Side Jammers matched those scores through goals from Ivor Dublin in the 3rd and Duquan Wilson in the 15th minute for a 2-2 stalemate, before the deciding penalty shoot-out.
The sixth game finished with Main Street Panthers rolling past Cherookee Park 2-0, after the winners secured goals from Chris Bowling in the 5th minute and Kevin Kennedy in the 18th minute.
The High Rollers edged Coomacka 3-2 with young Omar Brewley getting the first hat-trick of the tournament which came in the 3rd, 5th and 9th minutes of play, while for the losing Coomacka side Dorwin Daw netted in the 5th minute and Joel Rawlins in the 10th minute.
The eighth scheduled game did not come off, but Half Mile/ One Mile advanced to the next round of play in the 32-team tournament.

(Joe Chapman)