GEORGETOWN’S Sparta Boss produced a sterling display of ‘small goal’ football to claim the Guinness Greatest of the Street National Title on Sunday night when the curtain came down at the Demerara Park (Banks DIH).Sparta battled to a 2-1 win over North Ruimveldt to pocket the top prize of $500 000 and also snatched the opportunity to represent Guyana at the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Regional Championship in Jamaica, later this month.
North Ruimveldt had to settle for the runners-up prize of $250 000 while West Front Road made certain they claimed the third place prize of $150 000 with a massive 6-1 beating of Showstoppers who walked away with $75 000.
In the final, Sparta Boss went ahead in the sixth minute with the consistent Sheldon Shepherd recording his fifth goal of the tournament then Devon Millington pushed them further ahead with a 17th minute goal.
North Ruimveldt, on the back foot from the inception, finally pulled one back in the 20th minute when Joshua Browne scored, but the side had no more options or chances to find the equaliser.
In the third place showdown, Showstoppers were jubilant after drawing first blood in the sixth minute through a Nathan Allicock strike, but Hubert Pedro levelled things with a goal on the brink of halftime (15th).
However, things went pretty sour for Showstoppers in the second half as they found themselves behind in the first minute when Michael Pedro recorded the first of his double. The score then was 2-1.
Michael Oie made it 3-1 in the 18th minute. Michael Pedro’s second upped the score in the 23rd minute then Randolph Wagner and Jamal Pedro accounted for the fifth and sixth goals as they scored in the 25th and 26th minutes respectively.
The night began with these four teams billed to play in the semis. North Ruimveldt humbled Showstoppers 3-0 then Sparta Boss made their way into the final with a 1-0 win over West Front Road.
Travis Grant’s double (21st and 29th) and Colin Daniels’ 28th minute goal were more than enough to help North Ruimveldt keep a clean sheet against Showstoppers, while Sheldon Shepherd scored the decider for Sparta Boss in the eighth minute against West Front Road.
The Guinness Greatest of the Street National Championships began on Friday night at Pouderoyen Tarmac with sixteen of the country’s top ‘small goal’ teams competing for the coveted title and continued Saturday at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac before the grand finale on Sunday.