GFF Super League …
UNDERDOGS Buxton United and Rosignol United (RU) came away with draws in their latest Guyana Football Federation (GFF)-organised Super League competition against Guyana Defence Force and Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground Wednesday night. In the first match of the doubleheader, GDF squandered several goal-scoring opportunities, while excellent custodial work from Buxton’s Orson Washington, ensured his team held their more illustrious opponents to the draw.
Certainly, the coaching staff of the GDF would be going back to the drawing board, wherein their strikers with the calibre of Stellon David and Delroy Deen, the major culprits in the drawn encounter, would be taught on finishing whether clinically or spectacularly.
Buxton also had the opportunity to score what would have been a vital goal in the dying stages of the game, but good thinking from a GDF defence player who refused to leave the goal unattended while his custodian was beaten, ensured the Army Boys left the venue with a point.
They will need to up their game if they intend to be a force to be reckoned with on the local soccer stage, as such mediocrity that was displayed against a team that is still in its building process, would not be encouraged and accepted by their more superior opponents.
In the feature game, fans who braved the slight showers to witness what they thought would have been a one-sided affair, had something else coming as the Ancient County-based team, were all over the national club champions from the first whistle.
Dwayne Jacobs gave ‘The Hammer’ fans something to shout about, when he found the back of the net, courtesy of some loose goalkeeping from the Rosignol United custodian, who, after effecting a wonderful save, placed the ball on the ground at the top of the box, where both Jacobs and Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams were lurking like sharks.
Quick reaction from one of the RU defence players saw the ball cleared before the two dangerous strikers in Georgetown’s football could have gotten close, but that clearance only reached the half-way point of the field, from where Alpha’s skipper Howard Lowe sent it back into Rosignol’s third.
A defence blunder saw the ball land in the path of Jacobs, whose right foot shot ricochetted off another defence player before finding its way at the back of the net in the 15th minute of the game.
While some thought the goal would have knocked the wind out of Rosignol’s sail, it only reawakened their killing spirit, as they increased their attacking attitude against their opponents and were fittingly awarded a penalty, when Lowe brought down Delroy Fraser, who took the resulting penalty kick to level the scores nine minutes after Jacobs’ goal.
With the small but appreciative crowd behind them, Rosignol continued their relentless attack on their opponents and got their second goal, when Fraser, who had seen an earlier shot hit the crossbar with Alpha’s custodian beaten, rounded his marker and the custodian calmly placed the ball in the far corner to spark off celebrations among his teammates on and off the field in the 33rd minute.
Abrams’ hard work for the night finally bore fruit for himself and his team, when he found the back of the net on the stroke of lemon time, from a Jacobs rebound, but, as was the case in the first match, missed opportunities by both teams prevented full points being awarded at the end of full time.
Lowe must shoulder the blame for Alpha, when he missed a penalty awarded in stoppage time, when Abrams was brought down in the box by a Rosignol United player, with the ensuing kick finding its place hard and high over the bar and the northern fence of the venue, onto the car parked close to Church Street.
Action in the tournament will continue tonight at the same venue, with Sunburst Camptown going up against Seawall United from 18:00 h.