Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ final…
-WFR snatch third place
LED by their inspirational leader and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jimmy Gravesande, Broad Street ‘B’ overcame all the odds to win the second Banks DIH sponsored Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ tournament when they defeated favourites Albouystown ‘A’ 4-2 (1-1) via penalty kicks at the National Park on Saturday night to take home the $500,000 first prize and trophy. West Front Road (WFR) came back from being down by two goals to defeat Alexander Village 3-2 and take the third place cash prize of $150,000 and the trophy that came with it, leaving their opponents to settle for $50,000 and trophy.
Over 10,000 football enthusiasts thronged the venue to witness an enthralling night of action that brought an end to an exciting tournament, with the Jamaican group RDX and Guyana’s very own X-Factor dancers entertaining those gathered at the venue in between the matches.
Both finalists were met by the Marketing Executive and Guinness Brand Manager of Banks DIH Carlton Joao and Lee Baptiste respectively and Jamaica’s Mr. Guinness Gareth Giddings who officially kicked off the finals.
When the actual play began, Jimmy Gravesande hit the side of Albouystown ‘A’s goal from the left side in the first minute, while his older brother Rocky missed an opportunity to send his team ahead three minutes after, from a Sherwin Smith’s pass.
At the other end, Albouystown ‘A’s skipper Renault Fraser sent a long ball to Devon Dooker who displayed a selfish attitude when he took a shot to goal, while an unmarked Devon Small who ended the tournament as the highest goal scorer with 12 goals, was to his left.
Smith sent a shot wide before Jimmy Gravesande found the back of the net in the 10th minute for the eventual victors, leaving Julian Masdammer who patrolled his team’s defence amicably well throughout the tournament until the final match, in a bewildered state and at the same time forcing his opponents to take a time out.
Such a move worked in their favour, as Small scored what can be described as the goal of the tournament with a deft touch, following a high ball from Clifford ‘Zabylon’ Anthony on the left side, sparking off celebrations amongst his teammates.
With no other goal materializing during the final period of regulation as well as the extra eight minutes of play, penalty kicks was the order of the day, to which Broad Street ‘B’ buried all their shots, while Small who took Albouystown ‘A’s second kick, missed same, which meant they walked away with $350,000 as the second place finisher for the second time.
Quincy Bourne opened the scoring for Alexander Village in the fifth minute after receiving a pass from Leon Yaw, who later sent a pass to his skipper Shem Porter, but the ensuing shot went wide and with a see-saw battle being the order of the day, Alexander Village took the lemon time break with their one goal advantage.
Sheldon Gurrick made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half, but Michael Oie and Ola ‘Solo Tallboy’ Pedro brought their team level within the space four minutes after Gurrick’s goal and with Alexander Village finding themselves in foul trouble, Wendell Pedro took a penalty kick and scored in the final minute to land WFR the third place spot.