Frank scores fastest goal but Sophia South lose contest

..Queen Street Tiger Bay shock Albouystown ‘A’

SOUTH Sophia’s Stayon Frank scored the fastest goal to date in this year’s sixth annual Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal football competition last Thursday night at the National Cultural Centre tarmac, but his side lost to Back Circle 3-2 via penalty kicks.Also recording victories were North East La Penitence, California Square, Alexander Village, West Front Road, East Front Road, Albouystown ‘B’ and Queen Street-Tiger Bay over Festival City, Kingston, D’Urban Street, Cross Street –Tiger Bay, Island All Star, Tucville and Albouystown ‘A’ respectively.
The shrill sound of the referee’s whistle was dying away in the still of the night, when Keavan Frank, the elder brother of Stayon Frank, found his sibling who fired a first time shot which rocked the net five seconds into the contest against 2011 champions Back Circle.
Andy Duke was presented with a ‘golden opportunity’ to score the equalizer for Back Circle, after a player from South Sophia controlled the ball in the red zone, but the ensuing penalty kick was missed by Duke in the 12th minute.
Two minutes later, Wayne Wilson made amends on behalf of Duke when he scored from the penalty spot to neutralize the game just before the half, following an intense battle which followed Stayon Frank’s goal and Duke’s missed penalty kick.
As both teams went in search of the go-ahead goal in the second half, it was Back Circle who lost to defending champions, Leopold Street, in last year’s final, who seized the initiative when Duke found an unmarked Leon Murray lurking in front of South Sophia’s goal area, for which his teammate made no mistake in the 25th minute.
However, Back Circle’s celebration was short-lived, when Keavan Frank eased the ball through the legs of Seon McKenzie in defence for Back Circle two minutes later, sending the game to penalty kicks, wherein Back Circle came out on top 3-2.
In the night’s opening encounter, a composed looking North East LaPenitence lineup inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Festival City in a fast paced and exciting encounter that drew the attention of the spectators who braved the overcast conditions overhead, to witness the night’s action.
Festival City’s Daniel Favorite had some good shots to goal blocked by the opposition lineup, who tried feverishly to get the ball to their key player in Bevon Moseley on several occasions, and when they did in the 16th minute, he sent them in the lead with a scorcher.
Favorite equalized one minute later for Festival City, but a never-say-die North East LaPenitence lineup, continued to take the fight to the much fancied Festival City unit and were rewarded in the 22nd minute, when Colin Moore recorded the winning goal to hand them a 2-1 victory.
Back in the days, Kingston were known to be a force to reckon with in this type of football, but the way they were outplayed and out maneuvered by California Square, who romped away with a 4-0 win last Thursday night, left much to be desired.
Mark Anthony and Mark Canterbury scored in the 8th and 19th minute respectively for the victors, who sealed the win with a double strike from Allan Spencer, whose goals were scored in 25 and 27 minutes, with the second being scored from just inside his own half.
After Spencer’s double was completed, California Square missed four easy chances to come away with a convincing win, with two of those opportunities resulted in the ball hitting the uprights of an open goal.
Alexander Village and Durban Street treated the spectators which had a build up in anticipation of the bigger guns’ contest to follow, to some exciting football with Shem Porter of Alexander Village missing a penalty kick that was awarded in the first minute of play.
Both sides missed several chances to go ahead, before Christopher Galloway set tongues wagging with a first time left-footed volley that rocked the goal in the ninth minute, after his first shot was blocked and rebounded into his path.
A one touch play between three of Alexander Village’s key players saw Leon Yaw head the ball to Quincy Bourne, whose first touch was deft and straight to Dwayne Layne, who then completed a beautiful take and turn drill to rock the box goal in the 14th minute.
Porter made amends for his miss when he sent Yaw a beautiful pass, which the player , known as “Zamboolie’ made no mistake in scoring in the 19th minute, after which Porter sealed the game from midway inside Durban Street’s half in the 27th minute for Alexander Village who won 3-1.
A star studded West Front Road lineup, who had the slogan ‘Gold is Money’ emblazoned on the back of their tops, completed a hard fought but clinical 3-2 victory over Cross Street –Tiger Bay, with Michael Oie (13th), Michael Pedro (14th) and Randolph Wagner (28th) scoring for the victors, even as Sherwin Dover and Shalomo Hunte scored in the 25th and 27th minutes respectively for the losers.
East Front Road must thank their lucky stars, after seeing Island All Star’s Alpha McPhoy being denied four times in a 45 seconds period, by either the woodwork or the legs of a defence player, which enabled the game to be drawn 0-0, for which they (East Front Road) came out on top 3-1 via penalty kicks.
Roy Casou scored a brace one minute apart, (27th and 28th minutes) for Albouystown ‘B’, who with goals from Melvon Ross (4th) and Marvin Nedd (17th) defeated Tucville 4-0, before Albouystown’s ‘A’ team were handed a shocking 2-0 defeat at the hands of Queen Street- Tiger Bay, whose goals were scored by Deon Alfred (23rd) and Leon Fredericks (30th).
Thirty-two teams from across the City are playing for the top prize of $500,000, with the second, third and fourth placed teams taking home $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively along with trophies.
Along with the above mentioned prizes, teams can pocket an additional $25,000, $20,000, $15,000 and $10,000 each, according to their placing at the end of the preliminary round.
The top two finishers of this tournament which continues next Tuesday at the same venue, will go onto represent Georgetown in the national playoffs, with the winner representing Guyana in the regional Guinness Street Football Competition to be held in Trinidad and Tobago next year.

(By Calvin Roberts)