Semifinalists identified for exhibition tournament
THE four semi-finalists in the Banks DIH-sponsored Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ exhibition tournament have been identified, following four pulsating and at times enthralling quarterfinal encounters at the National Cultural Centre tarmac on Tuesday night. Prolific strikers Andrew Murray Jr. and Orson McCurdy continued their goal-hunting run in the tournament that is being used as a warm-up by Back Circle, formally known as Team Guyana, when they both had double strikes for their team, while the once-invisible Alexander Village and West Front Road (WFR) were given marching orders out of the tournament by D’Urban Street and Island All Stars respectively.
Reigning Banks DIH Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ champions, Back Circle, rebounded from their humiliating defeat to the now unbeaten Albouystown lineup, by recording a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Tiger Bay, who at one time seemed destined to create the third upset in the night’s action.
The action commenced with Alexander Village and D’Urban Street playing to a 1-1 draw, with Shem Porter (16th) and Jamal Hunte (17th) being the goalscorers for the respective teams, following a nil-all first half, before the latter won the encounter 3-2 on penalty kicks.
Up next was the WFR/Island All Stars matchup, in which Eusi Phillips found the back of the net for the Island All Stars in the 5th minute of play from a penalty kick, after a WFR player was in control of the ball in the danger zone area, a goal that gave his team the lead at lemon-time.
On the resumption of play, McCurdy scored his brace in the 20th and 27th minutes for Island All Star, with both goals coming from passes off the boot of Phillips who was a thorn in the flesh of WFR, for whom Stellon David reduced the deficit to two, when he scored in the 29th minute of the contest.
Following several near misses from both teams in the first half, Back Circle/Team Guyana opened the scoring when Vincent Thomas rocked the net with a bullet-like shot in the 16th minute, before Keoma Gravesande got the equaliser with a well-placed shot that found its way through Back Circle/Team Guyana’s defence, four minutes after Thomas’ strike, forcing the game into extra time as no other goal materialised during regulation time.
Spectators gathered at the venue witnessed another tense first half of extra time, in which both teams missed goal-scoring opportunities, until Daniel Favorite eluded his marker and made his way around the Tiger Bay defender with the greatest of ease, to score in the 35th minute, to hand Back Circle/Team Guyana a semifinal spot.
To loud cheers from the vociferous spectators, Albouystown took the playing area to contest the final fixture of the night against the inaugural champions Broad Street. When Murray missed a penalty in the 9th minute of the contest, many felt that the unbeaten team would have suffered their first defeat at such a crucial time in the tournament.
However, an energetic Murray made amends for his blunder three minutes later and with two minutes elapsing during the second half, converted a wonderful pass from the hard-working Renault Fraser to give his team a 2-0 cushion.
Shaka Jones should have made it 3-0 but he too missed a penalty for a red zone infringement in the 25th minute, but like Murray, he made amends when he found the back of the net from another Murray pass, sparking off wild celebrations at the venue, especially when the whistle was sounded to signal the end of the contest and confirming Albouystown’s place in the semis.
This segment of the tournament, along with the third-place playoff and final will be contested tomorrow night at the same venue, in which D’Urban Street will oppose Back Circle/Team Guyana in the first contest, followed by the Albouystown versus Island All Stars matchup.
At stake in the competition, which is being used by Back Circle/Team Guyana as a warm-up for the Guinness Caribbean Street Football Challenge, is $200,000 for the winner while the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers will take home $100 000, $50 000 and $25 000 respectively.
Even though they failed to make the semifinals, WFR, Alexander Village, Broad Street and Island All Stars will each receive $15 000 for their efforts displayed during the two-week tournament.