HI STARS courageous goalkeeper Joel Samuels committed the cardinal sin in the 65th minute. He panicked and shoved Winners Connection midfield player Steve Brewley in the box, thus pitching the hopes of the stars and gifting a penalty that eventually decided the final in the Upper Demerara Football Association/Banks DIH GT Beer Supa 16 Christmas championship at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground on Thursday night.

Like a lion in a cage, Samuels had kept his team in with a fighting chance as he parried, blocked and deflected several shots that came his way, while his team mustered a few opportunities which did come their way.
Winners Connection seemed on course to go ahead in as early the 14th minute of the first half as a play developed from the left side but Samuels was there.
Then from a corner Samuels cleared the ball from the goal mouth and by the 21st minute, this time from the right flank, Samuels blocked another shot that was heading to goal before Hi stars Tony ‘Spirit’ Adams, coming forward, unleashed a 20-metre drive which forced a clearance from the Winners Connection goalkeeper who advanced to cut the angle.
But Hi Stars’ Samuels was again brought into the picture, this time as the play came through the middle, he blocked another shot in the 33rd minute and it was obvious that Samuels did not favour clutching the ball and was more intent on thwarting it from the goal; as was evidenced in the 39th minute when the ball was sent through the middle.
Just before the half-time whistle came Steve ‘Parrot’ Brewley made a good dribble at the edge of the 18-yard box, as he feigned to his right and with a dribble going left, uncorked a shot that was barely redirected away by Samuels, drawing loud cheers from the appreciative and partisan crowd who chanted for Hi-Stars.
After play resumed Hi Stars forward Julian Allicock in a one-two with his teammate failed to get past the Winners Connection goalkeeper and soon after the overworked Samuels was called upon to deflect another ball heading to his goal.
But in the 65th minute on another foray led by schemer Gary Thompson for Winners Connection, Samuels saved another shot but the ball immediately went back in front of the goal mouth.
There an unmarked Brewley made his way towards the loose ball as the stalking Samuels ended up connecting from behind with enough force that saw the Winners Connection player fall to the ground, drawing a foul as instructed by referee Stanley Lancaster.
The resultant penalty taken by striker Rawle ‘Boney’ Gittens was slotted home for a 1-0 advantage by the defending champions, taking his tally to four in the tournament, to be the highest scorer.
This took the wind out of the responsive sail of the Hi Stars and although they maintained the fight, the gusto to score was not evident, and the final whistle came with the defending champions retaining another hold on the championship trophy, $1M and an unbeaten record dating back to their first tournament win one year ago.
Deputy Regional Executive Officer Mrs Maylene Stephens handed over the winner’s trophy to Winners Connection after the game as the replicas and trophies for the second-placed team Hi Stars were also distributed.
Among those helping with the presentation were Banks DIH Linden Branch Manager Ms Shondell Easton, Errol Nelson, Banks DIH Aqua Mist Manager and Ms Sandra Adams of the PNC/R, while the official presentation of the individual prizes will be done at a later date.

(By Joe Chapman)