KWAKWANI Strikers defeated the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) 2-1 in a tough battle on Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinal round of the GFA-organised Banks Beer Knockout Tournament which was contested at the Tucville Playfield.

Prior to the feature match, Blueberry Hill Football Club gained a 3-2 win over Caribbean United in one of the two remaining preliminary matches. Blueberry Hill will now face Ann’s Grove tonight from 18:00hrs to see who earns the spot in the round of sixteen.
The final preliminary match will precede the feature at 20:00hrs at Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, where the vibrant Riddim Squad team will go ip against last year’s semifinalists, Beacon United.
The double-header on Wednesday was relocated to the foot-balling community of Tucville due to the inclement weather but still had a very large and supportive crowd.
In the feature event, Kwakwani Strikers team found themselves down in the 18th minute when GFC’s Eon Singh found the back of the net. Approaching the half-time whistle, neither team seemed to have settled into a rhythm which kept the situation as a one-possession game.
The second half saw the game begin to open up as the crowds urged the Kwakwani team forward. The equalising goal was finally achieved in the 54th minute through a Roy Lee Cox strike.
The game started to favour the fitter Kwakwani unit and the decider was scored by Ted Rogers in the 75th minute that sent spectators rushing wildly on to the playing area.
GFC had no answer for that goal as Kwakwani thwarted their efforts to score through resolute defending and stout goal-keeping.
In the curtain-raiser, Blueberry Hill FC of Linden held off a resilient Caribbean United team as the Linden side went ahead as early as the second minute when Quincy Stephens scored. Brimming with confidence, the Linden team doubled their lead in the tenth minute when Ronel Bristol scored.
However, Caribbean United pulled one back through an Alston Gardener strike in the 18th minute from a corner kick.
The second half resumed with Blueberry Hill still ahead by a goal. They increased the lead from the penalty spot in the 57th minute when Troy Miller was successful.
In the closing moments of the game Caribbean United produced constant attacking waves that eventually led to a goal in the 83rd minute compliments of Kacy John but still could not find the equaliser to keep their chances alive.