East Coast Reunion F/ball tourney…
… Final set for this evening at GFC
FRUTA Conquerors and Alpha United will meet in the final of the East Coast Demerara Reunion Football Tournament this evening at the GFC ground. The two sides defeated their opponents in their respective semi-final matches on Thursday at the same venue.

In the first encounter which began at 18:00 h Fruta Conquerors defeated Victoria Kings 2-0 in extra time after a very tough battle. After regulation time the game was locked at nil-all.

Jomo Hinds silenced the huge crowd of mainly Victoria Kings’ supporters when he put his team ahead in the 92nd minute and Delon Williams made it 2-0 in the 105th after the Kings started to press for the equaliser, and played with two defenders only. Consequently, Conquerors were able to capitalise.

Kings only have themselves to blame for not taking their opportunities when they came. Reuben Morris missed quite a few chances for Victoria Kings; Fruta Conquerors also missed chances as both teams played very fast football.

Manasseh Primo wasted a few good chances that were created in the middle by Gerald Gittens.

In the feature game on Thursday, Alpha United brushed aside the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) 3-0.

The game started at a very hot pace and continued like that for most of the match. The soldiers played with purpose and heart and should have scored as early as the 7th minute but Stellon David shot wide of the target.

GDF were reduced to 10 men when Elvis Philips was sent off for foul tackling. The game was played with lots of emotions, as tempered flared on both sides.

Alpha United’s Philbert Moffatt was also sent off in the 15th minute by the referee who was in a no-nonsense mood. Edison Gomes put the Hammers ahead in the 14th minute when he slapped a powerful shot to the back off the net after he had received a cross from Dwayne Jacobs.

In the second half, national striker Dwight Peters turned on the heat on the soldiers and netted in the 46th and 65th minutes. Peters who was very busy all night should have made it 4-0 in the 70th minute but his shot went over the bar.

GDF’s Gavin Wilson was given marching orders by the referee in the 56th minute for tackling wildly. The score tally could have been a little higher for the Hammers but poor finishing let them down.

This evening, Victoria Kings and GDF will meet in the third place play-off while tournament favourites Alpha will meet Conquerors in the final.