20th Annual K&S F/ball tourney …
… Camptown brush aside Pele for third place
BK International Western Tigers `pawed’ Alpha `The Hammer’ United 2-0 to win the final of the 20th edition of the Annual Kashif and Shanghai Football tournament which concluded on Friday night at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, while Sunburst Camptown came from two goals down to beat last year’s champion Pele by a 4-2 margin to clinch third place.

Devon Millington and overlapping defender Dwayne Alli found the back of Alpha United’s net in the 84th and 88th minutes respectively to secure the $1M first prize for Western Tigers, who, according to the organisers, will also receive $200 000 in football gear and equipment.

Devon Millington (#13) watches as his shot gets into an open Alpha United goal during the final of the 20th Annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament on Friday night at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. (Photo by Sonell Nelson)

Additionally, the team’s sponsor BK International Limited has pledged a cash donation to the team and this will be presented shortly.

In the third place playoff, Gregory `Jackie Chan’ Richardson sent Pele into the lead with a 31st minute goal and the score line was doubled by Marvin Joseph in the 43rd minute.

However, Sunburst Camptown was a more focused unit in the second session which resulted in Nigel Codrington pulling one back for the Campbellville-based team in the 63rd minute, then went on to register his double in the 70th minute.

With the score level at 2-2 and playing in the final 10 minutes, Telson McKinnon found his target in the 84th minute while Quamie LaFleur made it 4-2 for the eventual winners with three minutes remaining on the referee’s clock.

In the feature game of the night’s double-header card, which attracted a sold-out crowd, Western Tigers started off very defensively and played that way for the entire first session, while Alpha were on the attack for the first 45 minutes.

However, the Tigers’ defence stood tall and withstood the onslaught.

With the score level at 0-0 going into the second segment, one-time champions of the annual tournament, Alpha United, upped their ante and started to attack relentlessly, but the West Ruimveldt-based team showed resilience and stood up to the test.

Alpha United, the Guyana Football Federation’s inaugural Super League champions continued to play wide and moved into the open spaces, but the Tigers were all over them, cutting out their moves.

From the start of the second period it was evident that the Tigers meant business as they took a different approach to the game, took the fight to the opposition, and with six minutes of regulation time remaining, Millington found the back of Alpha’s net.

Four minutes later, Tigers launched a counterattack down the middle of Alpha United’s half of the field and the ball was played to the right wing and subsequently to Alli who was supporting in the middle and he (Alli) finished clinically.

For the entire game, Western Tigers took seven direct shots to their opponents’ goal, scoring with the final two, while Alpha United took six direct shots to goal but failed to find their target.

Alpha forced 10 corners but failed to convert any while Western Tigers were awarded three corners.

In the opening game, Pele, the 2008/09 champions went ahead after building up down the left wing. The ball was played to Travis Grant who made a through pass and Richardson ran on to it, caught Sunburst Camptown’s custodian advancing and slipped the ball into second post.

Pele then made it 2-0 with a counterattack down the middle of the field and the ball was played to Richardson who was supporting the play.

Richardson then passed the ball to Joseph as the goalkeeper came off his line and Joseph finished off the business.

Trailing 0-2 at the interval, Camptown came out more purposefully in the second segment and were rewarded in the 63rd minute when Codrington netted the first of his double.

Seven minutes later, Codrington made it 2-2 for the Campbellville-based team.

With six minutes remaining on the clock, Camptown made a buildup on the right flank, and the ball was slipped to McKinnon who finished well to send his team into the lead 3-2 which was further extended when LaFleur received the ball from another counterattack and scored, ending the match with a 4-2 victory for the winners.