WDFA Vita Malt/Aqua Mist Water KO – Slingerz FC defeat Den Amstel 4-1 on penalties to win inaugural title
Champs Again! Slingerz FC players and staff celebrate after winning the inaugural WDFA Banks Vita Malta/Aqua Mist Water KO tournament on Boxing Day.
Champs Again! Slingerz FC players and staff celebrate after winning the inaugural WDFA Banks Vita Malta/Aqua Mist Water KO tournament on Boxing Day.

THE West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) could not have asked for a better climax to their inaugural Banks DIH Vita Malt/Aqua Mist Water-sponsored knock-out tournament last Friday night, as Slingerz Football Club remained unbeaten on the ‘West Side’ following their 4-1 penalty kicks win over Den Amstel. 

With the win, Slingerz FC not only kept their unblemished record of not being defeated by any team playing under the jurisdiction of the WDFA, but they also walked away with the tournament’s $1M first-place prize while Den Amstel had to settle for $500 000.
Slingerz custodian Joao Filho was adjudged the best goalkeeper while goalscorer on the night Devon Millington also from the victorious side was named the tournament’s most valuable player (MVP).
Millington (3rd minute) and Travis Hilliman (28th minute) scored for their respective team, but at the end of regulation and extra time, the teams could not be separated, sending the game into a penalty shootout.
The mammoth crowd at the Den Amstel Community Centre bordered the penalty area, all seeking to get closer to the action and saw Slingerz skipper Tichard Joseph do nothing wrong when he hammered a right-footed shot flat and hard into the left corner for the 1-0 advantage in the shootout.
Cheered and encouraged by the crowd of mostly their supporters, Ryan Hunte stepped up the penalty area and equalled the score with his effort, before national defender Colin Nelson sent the eventual champions into the lead with his clinical finish.
Hilliman, who was already considered a hero for his classic header to equalise the scores, after Millington’s regulation time goal, stepped up for his spot kick and missed the opportunity to level, as his right-footed effort slammed into the zinc fence, missing the goal by miles. explicitly
The Den Amstel supporters voiced their frustration overtly and to rub salt in their wounds, Joshua Browne made it 3-1 in favour of Slingerz with his spot kick.
Delon Lanferman was summoned by coach O’Neal Heywood to help claw them back into the game, but, the player who had brought much joy to the Den Amstel supporters became he one to pierce their hearts as his kick ended in similar fashion as Hilliman’s.
In what turned out to be the million-dollar kick, Millington magically slipped the ball past the Den Amstel custodian, who this time, picked the right side but was slow to the task as Slingerz and their sprinkle of fans celebrated in a fashion befitting champions.
Den Amstel received a loud reception upon their introduction while Slingerz FC were greeted with a mixture of boos and applause, a clearing indication of who the crowd favoured prior to the start of the contest.
However, Millington showed why on any given night he can be the most dangerous player on the field when he latched onto a poor clearance by the Den Amstel custodian and tucked the ball into the left corner, silencing the biased crowd just three minutes into the finale.
Den Amstel came close when Lanferman’s thunderous free kick from approximately 30 yards sailed just inches from the crossbar, 15 minutes after Millington’s go-ahead goal.
Hilliman had earlier threatened the goal with a header that also just went wide of the goal but in the 28th minute he scored what could be the goal of the tournament; racing onto a ball taken from a corner kick and brought the crowd storming onto the pitch when he connected with a beautiful header that stunned the Slingerz goalkeeper who froze on his line when the ball flew into the back of the net.
Both teams failed to impress thereafter with the only ‘almost goal’ chance coming from Slingerz skipper (Tichard Joseph) whose shot slammed onto the crossbar in the second half of extra time.
Meanwhile, in the third place play-off, Marvin Frank (18th minute) and Lloyd Prince (43rd and 72nd minute) helped Pouderoyen to a 3-1 defeat of Uitvlugt to go home with the $300 000 prize.
Keon Duke had scored the opening goal of the clash between the two for Uitvlugt but that was not enough and they settled for $200 000.

(By Rawle Toney)

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