THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Santos Football Club were the latest teams to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Namilco Football Festival Knockout Tournament when action continued on Wednesday night at the Tucville Playfield. In the opening showdown of the evening, the army team brushed aside Black Pearl 4-0 then Santos got the better of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) 3-1 in the feature showdown. The victors now join Sunburst Camptown and Beacon United in the next round.
Play in the competition continues tomorrow, Saturday 18th at the same venue, as Riddim Squad battle Houston Stars in the curtain-raiser at 18:00hrs then the defending champions Alpha United spring into action against Banks DIH Allstar at 20:00hrs.
On Wednesday evening in the opener, the GDF team dominated the match against Black Pearl in every aspect of the game though they were not at full strength.
GDF surged ahead as early as the eighth minute when Delwyn Fraser drew first blood applying immediate pressure to the opposition. They kept attacking and were rewarded in the 26th and 28th minutes when Sherwyn Caesar and Eusi Phillips joined the list of scorers.
In the second half GDF found the back of the net once as Steven Dolphin accounted for the final goal which was scored in the 78th minute.
In the feature of the night both GPF and Santos came out and were competing at a quite high pace but it was the lawmen who made the first mistake and paid for it dearly in the 10th minute.
Santos counterattacked and got the goalkeeper off the line but GPF defenders were not resolute in their defence which led to Michael Pedro being left unmarked in the 18-yard box to comfortably blast one into the net for the lead.
However, that did not discourage the GPF team seeing that they played anxiously for the equaliser but found themselves down by two goals when their defence wilted once more.
Gerald Whittington’s 24th minute goal for Santos led them to play with a bit more confidence but Rondell Archer pulled on back for GPF the very next minute to once again keep Santos on their toes.
Santos’ Ryan Seales found the back of the net one minute before the half-time whistle to seal the deal for his team after the two teams had battled to a goalless second half.