GUINNESS ‘GREATEST OF DE STREETS’

Stevedore and Queen Street battle for top prize in tomorrow’s final

HAVING blasted home a double in his team Queen Street-Tiger Bay’s 4-0 quarterfinal win over Berlin Massive, Deon Alfred returned last Tuesday night and repeated the feat in their semifinal encounter against Hope Street-Tiger Bay, earning them a place in the final of this year’s Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal football competition at the National Cultural Centre tarmac.
Asked to play two matches on the same night once they won the first, Queen Street-Tiger Bay showed that they have the stamina and endurance to do so, even if it was at the expense of their village mates in Hope Street-Tiger Bay whom they defeated 3-1.
In the other semifinal matchup, Stevedore Housing Scheme displayed grit, stamina and determination to dispose of Albouystown ‘B’ 5-4 on sudden-death penalty kicks from the halfway mark, following a 0-0 result at the end of regulation time, to book a matchup with Queen Street.
Alfred scored the first two goals in his double double in the 3rd and 16th minutes of play which together with strikes from Alpha Fletchman (18th) and James Meredith (24th), steered Queen Street-Tiger Bay into the semifinals with a 4-0 win over Berlin Massive.
In the second quarterfinal matchup, Dwayne Dickson’s 32-second strike was all Hope Street-Tiger Bay needed to give pre-tournament favourites West Front Road ‘Gold is Money’ their exit ticket out of the tournament.
The scoreline was the same when Stevedore faced California Square in the third quarterfinal match of the night, with Quason Winter finding the back of the net in the 5th minute for the victors, before Marlon Nedd scored a brace in the 10th and 23rd minutes of play for Albouystown ‘B’, who came away with a 2-0 win over Island All Stars.
The two sides from Tiger Bay, namely Queen Street and Hope Street had the bad luck of the draw, since they were destined to face each other in the first semifinal. Alfred continued to show his mettle by scoring in all of Queen Street-Tiger Bay’s fixtures.
He did not disappoint their fans, as he found the back of the net twice in the 13th and 23rd minutes and along with a solitary strike from Dion Fredericks in the 28th minute, handed Hope Street their marching orders even though Stephan Moore pulled one back for them, one minute before Fredericks’ goal.
Semi-final number two was an exciting one, in which both teams displayed stern and stubborn defence to deny each other, sending the fixture into penalty kicks and later sudden-death penalties from the halfway line, in which Stevedore came out on top and earned the right to meet Queen Street-Tiger Bay in tomorrow night’s final at the National Park, while Hope Street and Albouystown ‘B’ will battle for third.
Cash prizes totalling G$1M will be distributed to the various winners, with the top team taking home $500 000, while the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams take home $300 000, $200 000 and $100 000 respectively along with trophies, while all the teams in the preliminary round will pocket $25 000, $20 000, $15 000 and $10 000 each, according to their placing.
Like the previous two years of the tournament, the winners and runners-up will go on to represent Georgetown in the nationwide tournament, whose winner will represent Guyana in next year’s Caribbean ‘Guinness Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition that is scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in June.

(By Calvin Roberts)

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