Melanie ‘A’ and BV ‘B’ to square off in tomorrow night’s final
… Victoria Church Yard and Melanie ‘B’ to meet for third place

MELANIE ‘A’ and Beterverwagting (BV) ‘B’ have earned the right to face each other in tomorrow night’s final of the second Banks DIH/Petra Organisation East Coast of Demerara Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ Futsal competition, following their semifinal wins last Wednesday night at the Haslington Market Square.Melanie ‘A’ defeated last year’s runners-up Victoria Church Yard United 2-0, thanks to a brace from Jamal George who found the back of the net in the 3rd and 5th minutes of play, while BV ‘B’ sent their counterparts from Melanie packing, with Erin Fraser scoring the lone goal of the contest in the 17th minute.
However, despite coming out on the losing end in their semifinal fixtures, both Victoria Church Yard United and Melanie ‘B’ will be in action tomorrow, when they face each other in the third-place playoff, which will precede the final clash.

MARCHING ORDERS
Fans who braved the overcast conditions to witness the action last Wednesday night, were privy to four exciting quarterfinals. In one of them defending champions Plaisance were given their marching orders out of the tournament at the hands of BV ‘B’.
Competing in the third quarterfinal match as the underdogs, BV ‘B’ had much to smile about when the final whistle was sounded, after Fraser broke the deadlock between the two sides and found the back of the net in the 19th minute to hand his team a 1-0 victory.
Prior to that upset, Victoria Church Yard United must have fancied their chances of going one step further than their second-placed finish last year when they lost 2-0 to Plaisance, following their 1-0 win over Paradise in the first quarterfinal fixture of the night, with Keyron Johnson scoring in the 13th minute.
This followed Melanie ‘A’s 3-2 penalty kicks win over BV ‘A’, after regulation time ended with the scores locked at three goals, with national striker Dwight Peters scoring a brace for Melanie ‘A’ in the 18th and 20th minutes, after Shermon Fraser opened their account with his 11th minute goal.
However, it was BV ‘A’, who, through a hat-trick of goals from Akin Curry, who scored first, finding the back of the net in the 3rd, 12th and 17th minutes of play. In the end, though, they failed to convert all their kicks, thus handing Melanie ‘A’ the win and a semi-final spot.
The final quarter-final matchup of the night saw Melanie ‘B’ issue exit directions to Victoria Eagles, whom they needled 1-0, courtesy of Ryan Seales’ 19th minute goal.
In addition to their battle for the top prize of $300 000 and trophy with the runner-up pocketing half that amount, both finalists have earned the right to compete in the national playoffs.
Already, Georgetown zone champions Queen Street/Tiger Bay, runners-up Stevedore Housing Scheme, third-place finishers Hope Street/Tiger Bay and the fourth-place Albouystown ‘B’, along with Eagles, Retrieve Unknowns and Scheme, out of Linden, have booked their spots in the national playoffs.