GEORGETOWN and Santos Football Clubs were the last two to claim places in the round of eight when they defeated Houston Stars and Banks All Stars 2-0 and 4-2 respectively in what was deemed a classical night at the GFC ground, last Wednesday evening. The opening game of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)-organised Banks Beer Knockout Festival saw a new-look GFC take the game to their opponents and dominated same throughout the first half.
Sporting full possession of the ball and demonstrating their possession and distribution of the ball from defence to midfield, followed by several raids on their opponents’ goal area, the home team were able to frustrate the young Houston Stars lineup.
It was no surprise when Anson Lynch found the back of the net in the 36th minute, to send GFC into the lead, which they held onto at lemon time.
On resumption of play, Teshawn Blackman, in seconds, slipped the ball past the Houston Stars goalkeeper to take his team further into the lead, and despite several raids from both teams, the result remained the same, 2-0 in favour of GFC at full time.
The feature match saw Santos rival Banks All Stars, giving football fans a truly entertaining encounter from the equally-balanced teams who displayed a quality brand of football.
Banks All Stars, sporting a number of seasoned players with ace forward and former national striker Mortimer Stewart opting to sit out the encounter, gave a valuable account of themselves against the youthful Santos lineup, who demonstrated their skilful, technical and tactical ability in the game.
Santos’ Gerald Wittington opened the account in the 13th minute, which was nullified 17 minutes later by Michael Oie for the All Stars.
It was just ten minutes later when Santos commanded the lead once again, as Leron Charles found the back of the net in the 40th minute, ensuring his team ended the first half with a 2-1 advantage.
As was the scenario in the first game, where Teshawn Blackman scored within seconds on the resumption of play, Banks All Stars did the same thanks to Nicholas Norton who found the back of the net within the first minute in the second half.
Feeling comfortable with the position of the game, the Thirst Park lineup took the game to the relaxing Santos and forced them to defend sternly, but failed to convert on four consecutive occasions, giving Santos the reviving momentum to come back.
They were made to pay for their misfortunes, when Michael Pedro sent Santos into the lead with his 75th minute strike, and when Mark Glasgow found the back of the net in the 83rd minute, it was all over bar the shouting for the Banks DIH lineup who were sent packing with a 4-2 defeat in a game they should have won.
The action continues on Monday with Beacons taking on Black Pearl and Santos going head-to-head with Fruta Conquerors while on Sunday  December 5, Sunburst Camptown will meet GFC and Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United will face off against Riddim Squad.