IT evaded them previously but Slingerz Football Club showed that nothing will stand in their way as the Vergenoegen-based club steamrolled Western Tigers 5-0 to win this year’s Mayor’s Cup Football tournament on Sunday night. As Guyana celebrated its 45th Anniversary as a Republic, Slingerz FC celebrated its triumph over Western Tigers at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

Thanks to a double from Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams (89th, 90th), and a goal each from Julian Wade, Dwayne Lawrence and Dexroy Adams, Slingerz FC won the tournament’s $1M first place prize while Western Tigers had to settle for runners-up.
According to the organisers, the announcement of the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and other individual awards will be known at the prize-giving ceremony at a later date.
In the third place playoff, Fruta Conquerors whipped Pele FC 6-1 to pick up $300 000 while the latter had to settle for $75 000.
Played in front of a fair-size crowd, it was 90 minutes of watching Slingerz FC play amongst themselves since Western Tigers were no match for the well-oiled unit.
The ‘West Side’ Champions went on the attack from the blast of the first whistle and it paid dividends when Wade scored his third goal of the tournament in just four matches in the 9th minute.
Wade, a Dominican national player on loan from Caledonia AIA, placed a well-timed ball past goalkeeper Derrick Carter after latching onto the ball down the North Road goal between several defenders.
The goal by Slingerz’s talisman opened the floodgates as Lawrence made it 2-0 two minutes later while Adams’ 16th minute strike eventually made the eventual winners take a demanding 3-0 lead at the end of the first half.
While Western Tigers were able to eventually contain the 2015 Mayor’s Cup champs in the second stanza, it was still a one-sided contest.
The West Ruimveldt-based club had very little chances, but nothing to ‘shout’ about since their runs were thwarted by the Slingerz FC defenders.
After being taken the distance by Pele in their semifinal, where they were able to win 5-4 on penalty shootout, Slingerz ensured that this time around, a repeat was impossible.
Nicknamed ‘FC Hollywood’ because of their star-studded lineup, Slingerz had several chances that would have widened their margin of victory but, goalie Derrick Carter, one of the finest in Guyana was equal to the task.
Though holding off an aggressive offensive onslaught by the champs, it was only a matter of time before one of the team’s top goalscorers would get on the sheets as Adams hit two goals in the closing seconds to seal the one-sided win.

(By Rawle Toney)