Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ final at National Park …
AFTER three weeks of intense, enthralling and pulsating football, the die is cast and the stage is set for the final of the second annual Banks DIH-sponsored Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ football tournament which kicks off tonight at the National Park between Broad Street ‘B’ and Albouystown ‘A’.
The two teams  earned the right to face each other when they recorded contrasting victories over Alexander Village (AV) and West Front Road (WFR) in their semifinal matchups at the same venue Tuesday night.
With the determination displayed by both teams, tonight’s encounter, which has a first prize of $500 000 and $300 000 to the second-place team, gets under way at 21:00 h and will surely be a scorcher.
Preceding this matchup which promises to be an exciting one, are three exhibition matches and the battle for third place which has a purse of $150 000 to the winner and $100 000 to the losing team – AV versus WFR.
There will also be a live performance by the Jamaican artiste RDX, who displayed their footballing skills to the public when they defeated the Guinness Bar 3-2 in an exhibition match during the quarterfinals last Saturday night.
There is no doubt in the minds of the football players, enthusiasts and even club executives who thronged the venue by the thousands to witness Tuesday night’s action, that Albouystown ‘A’ who have been a dominant force won’t start tonight’s final as favourites.
Skipper Renault Fraser has been marshalling his troops, who include the tournament’s joint leading goalscorers Devon Small and Devon Dooker, who have nine goals each, and defence stalwart Julian Masdammer, with authority.
But how they confront their opponents, who will be without the services of their inspirational skipper Jimmy Gravesande (given marching orders in the semi-final), will be a different story, but they still have brother Rocky Gravesande, Sherwin Smith, Devon Adams, Ryan Jones and Jason Silas to rely on.
Ola ‘Solo Tallboy’ Pedro, Wendell Pedro and Michael Oie will spearhead WFR’s challenge against AV, who will be led by their hungry striker Leon Yaw, who has scored seven goals so far, skipper Shem Porter and Quincy Bourne in their hunt for the third place trophy and cash prize.
The presentation of prizes to the top goalscorer, Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the Most Disciplined Team (MDT), along with the four top cash remunerations to the respective teams, will be done immediately after the final.