PELE Gold created history last Sunday night at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, when they were crowned the inaugural Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T)-organised and sponsored FastBall ‘Kings’, following an exciting final against BK Western Tigers. The Gordon ‘Ultimate Warrior” Braithwaite-coached team were much more clinical with their finishes and emerged victorious by a 3-0 margin.
For their superlative efforts and wonderful display of brilliant attacking play which proved too much for their arch-rivals, Pele Gold were rewarded with GT&T’s $1 million first prize which was handed over by GT&T’s Chief Financial Officer Royston Rachpaul.
For their runner-up position, Western Tigers collected the second place trophy which was handed over by GT&T Marketing Officer Abina Fung, along with a cheque for $500 000.
However, the highpoint of the evening was the handing over of the coveted GT&T FastBall Trophy by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Yog Mahadeo to the Pele Gold captain who lifted the trophy and sparked off wild celebrations from all his team mates.
It was the second magical BlueBall moment for the night for the Pele Gold team. Marvin Joseph completed one of the best tactical fast-flowing build-up that will probably remain the most memorable moment for followers of FastBall and those who love the ‘Samba Style’ soccer which had been the tradition and legacy for most of the Pele FC teams during their 40-year history.
In the 14th minute of the enthralling final, Joseph skilfully guided the ball to the right of the diving Western Tigers goalkeeper Trevor Bess, whose gallant effort was in vain, to break the deadlock and at the same time, hand Pele Gold a 2-0 psychological advantage at halftime.
Two minutes after resumption, West Tigers’ confidence must have been shattered when Stellon David slotted home from close range a clever square pass five metres inside the goalline at the northern end of the field from Joseph.
This resulted in another speedy build-up on the right wing and the Western Tigers custodian was left stranded at the first post while his fellow defenders were caught napping and hopelessly out of position as David capitalised on the blunder.
Western Tigers never gave up and it was a ding-dong tussle until the final whistle sounded to climax the month-long nationwide competition that involved  207 male teams and had over 8 000 screaming spectators sharing in the thrills and excitement provided by some of the nation’s best footballers as well as a few rising stars.
At the end, it was Pele Gold and their supporters who felt lifted beyond belief and would reign supreme for at least one year until the 2012 edition is completed and a new champion crowned.
For his magnificent performance during the riveting and exciting final, Pele Gold goalkeeper Sean Johnson gained the nod from both coaches and celebrated another unique milestone with the ‘Most Valuable Player-of-the-Final’ award.
While Pele Gold looked superior in the final, they were evenly-matched against Topp XX of Linden in the second semi-finals which was played earlier in the evening. 
They barely scrambled through during the sudden-death penalty shootout when Topp XX goalie Carlos Browne’s right-footer from the 12-metre spot was saved by Johnson diving to his left.
The scores were level 2-2 at the end of regulation time, as Topp XX dominated the first half and seemed well on course to make a Georgetown versus Linden final when the tournament’s leading goalscorer Keon Sears increased his overall tally to 14 goals when he netted in the 6th minute.
Three minutes later, his teammate Romain Haynes increased the lead to 2-0 before the BlueBall provided a lifeline for Pele Gold.
Energetic Travis Grant outfoxed his opponents and knotted up the scores with the major BlueBall strike that proved propitious for his team in the 15th minute, while the scores remained unchanged in the second half and forced the penalty shootout.
In the first semi, BK Western Tigers captain Dwayne Ali emerged the star of that match when he converted opportunities in the 11th, 17th and 28th minutes to give his team a convincing 5-0 win over Adams Rockers of Wismar.
Ali’s 28th minute goal was scored with the BlueBall while Ryan Thomas was the other scorer in the 17th minute.
Kashif Muhammad, Aubrey ‘Major’ Shanghai and Colin Aaron of K&S Promotions and Kerwin Bollers and other executives of Hits and Jams Entertainment must have felt a sense of pride and satisfaction to have organised such a highly-successful tournament.