Eagles and Albouystown ‘B’ record back to back victories on opening night

LINDEN’S 2014 Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ champions Eagles, and Georgetown’s fourth placed team Albouystown ‘B’ were the lone teams to record back to back victories on the opening night of action in the Banks DIH/Petra Organisation National Guinness ‘Greatest of De Streets’ Futsal competition, which kicked off at the Demerara Car Park last Friday night.Several football loving fans including Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and Guyana Football Federation president Christopher Matthias, braved the overcast conditions and even the rains, which came later, to witness the night’s action.

Certainly, the eight teams who were placed in two groups of four to contest the round robin/knockout action did not disappoint the fans, especially the above mentioned two teams who inflicted defeats on Hope Street/Tiger Bay, Retrieve Unknown, Melanie ‘A’ and Queen Street/Tiger Bay respectively.

Melanie ‘A’, who one week ago was crowned East Coast of Demerara champions, started off the night’s proceedings following brief remarks from Dr. Anthony, Matthias and Banks DIH’s Sales and Marketing Executive Carlton Joao, with a 4-1 first round victory over Stevedore Housing Scheme, Georgetown’s runner-up team.

Skipper Dwight Peters got a brace in the 4th and 14th minute, backed by solitary strikes from Shermon Fraser (10th) and Jamal George (28th), with Gavin Blackman scoring Stevedore’s solitary goal in the 7th minute of play, as the scorecard read 2-1 at lemon time.

In the second game, Queen Street/Tiger Bay displayed lots of determination to come from behind on three occasions, before levelling their game with Wismar Housing Scheme and later going on to win same via a 4-3 margin through penalty kicks that was shifted to the half way line.

Solid attacking play from the Linden based Wismar Housing Scheme saw them take the lead in the second minute, courtesy of Andrew Chester’s strike, which was nullified eight minutes later by Queen Street/Tiger Bay, thanks to Deon Alfred’s goal.

As the heavens opened up and the rains came down, Wismar, through Rawle ‘Boneyman’ Gittens, took back the lead in the 8th minute, only to see James Meredith snatch the equaliser once again in the 10th minute for Queen Street who placed third in the Georgetown leg of the competition.

At halftime, the scoreline read 2-2 and one minute into the second half, Keon Sears sent Wismar back into the lead with his goal, but urged on by their supporters who ran out of the shelter to witness the action in the rain, Queen Street got the equaliser in the 29th minute, thanks to Jeffrey Newton.

The game was forced into penalty kicks and with the scores being levelled at 3-3 from the regular spot, the ball was shifted to the half way mark wherein Queen Street scored first then celebrated after seeing Wismar missed their shot from that mark.

In the third game, Eagles who defeated Retrieve Unknown to take the top prize in Linden early last month, took revenge for Wismar with their 4-1 drubbing over Hope Street/Tiger Bay, with goals from Delon McAllister (4th), Delon Charter (12th), Renee Allicock (29th) and Deon Charter (30th), while Dennis Caldeira pulled one back for Hope Street in the 25th minute.

The final game of the first round ended 3-1 in favour of Albouystown ‘B’ over Retrieve Unknown, with Roy Cassou scoring a double for the victors in the 2nd and 11th minute backed by Chris Marshall’s 14th minute goal, even as Shakiel Charles pulled one back in the 16th minute for Retrieve Unknown.

Following the Guinness halftime break, the second round commenced with Eagles’ 1-0 win over Melanie ‘A’, with Deon Charter scoring the game’s lone goal in the 5th minute, followed by Retrieve Unknown’s 5-4 penalty kicks win from the halfway mark over Wismar, following a nil all deadlock.

Hope Street/Tiger Bay rebounded from their first round loss to defeat Stevedore Housing Scheme 2-0, with Rensford Coleridge (17th) and an own goal two minutes later accounting for the win, before Albouystown ‘B’ culminated the night’s action with their 4-3 Sudden Death penalty kicks win over Queen Street/Tiger Bay, after a 1-1 scoreline.

Marlon Nedd scored for the victors in the 7th minute, with Alpha Fletchman responding for Queen Street in the 15th minute, just before the whistle sounded to culminate the action in the first half and with no more goals realised in the second half, penalty kicks were the order of the day for which Albouystown ‘B’ reigned supreme.

The winning team from this national competition, which climaxes with the third place playoff and finals tonight, will go up against hosts Trinidad and Tobago who are the defending champions, along with teams from Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts, Jamaica and Antigua in the Caribbean championships.
The winner of that competition will receive US$5000 and an Introductory Advanced Level Coaching Course accredited by FIFA, hence, an exciting three-day action is anticipated by Futsal-loving fans who are expected to throng the venue.
Meanwhile, in his brief remarks, Dr. Anthony applauded Banks DIH for taking the initiative five years ago to host the tournament locally and later setting the trend to do so regionally three years later, even as he congratulated the eight teams that made it to the national playoffs.

(By Calvin Roberts)