A BRACE was scored by Odera Riggs for Vasco and a late strike by Joseph Spencer for Hi Stars last Wednesday, as both teams moved to the next round eliminating Trainline and Botofago in the process when the Upper Demerara Football Association/GT Beer Christmas football championship continued at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.Both teams triumphed by similar scorelines in front of another good crowd as Vasco overcame Trainline 2-1 and Hi Stars flew past Botofago 2-1.

Hi Stars were able to earn a spot in the next round after trailing early when Mark Hope hit in a nice penalty awarded to Botofago as early as the 7th minute after a foul was committed in the box.
However, the Hi Stars side fought back and evened things in the 22nd minute when the same favour was afforded to Hi Stars and Colin Davidson did the honours to tie the scores which remained level up to halftime.
The see-saw chances continued for both teams in the second half, and when the regulation play ended it was still a 1-1 stalemate. Ten minutes into overtime the game winner was sealed through a flat drive by Joseph Spencer which also saw the final whistle come with the Hi Stars moving through with a 2-1 scoreline.
The second game was also very entertaining under the wet conditions which continued to prevent the best of football for spectators but Odera Riggs first nudged Vasco ahead for his first goal in the 14th minute and they held on to that lead until halftime.
As play continued in the second half Trainline were able to even the scores when Troy Delamazon scored with a neat shot in the 58th minute.
As the teams tried their best to no avail Vasco were able to gain the edge in the 85th minute through another strike by Riggs who netted in the 85th minute to ensure his team reached the next round where they now play Hi Stars in game one on Saturday at 19:00hrs and the second is between Blueberry Hill and Eagles United.
Written By Joe Chapman