…..Top XX earns 1st point

THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) maintained its perfect run in the GFF-Stag Elite League with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Monedderlust FC, last Friday night, to take pole position at the top of the points table after the completion of the last two matches in the fourth round of

competition.

The Number Five Village home side, urged on by the several hundred fans on hand, did not disappoint as they took the attack to the Army from the start and in the 8th minute took the lead, much to the delight of their supporters. A well-executed ‘one-two’ combination pass, just outside the area on the attacking left, between Teron McDonald and Kevin Cottoye, caught the Army’s defence flat-footed and caused goalkeeper Enoch Carmichael to leave his line.

The diminutive and speedy Cottoye then calmly rounded the advancing keeper before confidently scoring from inside the box into an open goal.
It was the first time the Army trailed in a match this season and for the first time their defense looked lame and they somehow survived a three-minute onslaught by the hosts.
First it was Athlyne Bailey’s thunderous right booter from the penalty arc that rocked the cross bar, then Teron McDonald’s rifled effort went inches wide of the left post before Carmichael was forced to dive low and full-stretch to his left to brilliantly tip around the post a powerful right-footed shot from Henry Watts, from the top of the box, that had goal written all over it.

The soldiers militantly and, luckily at times, soaked up the pressure before mounting their raids on the Red shirts’ defence ably marshalled by Norde and Alvin McDonald. The fast-paced game was brought to a sudden hush in the 26th minute when the Army’s lanky central defender, Aubrey Greene towered above all in the box to silence the home fans as he buried his header in the ‘onion bag’ from a free-kick just outside the area on the attacking right.
The setback did not daunt the aggressive intent of Monedderlust, led by the speedy Cottoye, while the all-green with yellow and black trimmings Army unit, spearheaded by Eusi Phillips in midfield, were equally attacking but the score remained 1-1 at the interval.

Both sides kept up the tempo after the break in search of breaking the deadlock as the two Coaches went to their respective benches in pursuit of the winner. The Army looked more fluid and confident in midfield and at both ends of the pitch there was resolute defending as the minutes ticked away.
Just when it looked like the Army would have to share the points with the home side, the League’s top marksman, Sherwyn Caesar took centre-stage with a 2-minute explosion that pushed his season tally to six goals and the GDF to the top of the 6-team table on a maximum 12 points.

The solidly built Caesar capitalised on a quickly taken free-kick about thirty five metres out as he ran away into the box past a now tired defence and beat the advancing Selwyn Jack.
The goal took the spirit and fight away from the combative Monedderlust and within two minutes Caesar raced unto a ball squared across the goal from the left side to beat Jack as he left his line again.
While the Army celebrated, some angry home fans on the touchline cried off-side while surrounding the assistant Referee in a threatening manner, forcing the game to be held up for seven minutes. After all was brought back to order referee Dwayne Johnson continued with the remaining four minutes and at the final whistle the score was still GDF 3, Monedderlust FC 1.

The opening match-up was delayed by an hour and 39 minutes due to a poorly marked penalty area at one end of the pitch, but at the end the two newcomers to the Elite League, Victoria Kings and Top XX played to a dull 1-1 draw.
Kings took the initiative in the 7th minute when Kenroy Alfed fired a right-booter from the top of the area which Jamal Caster failed to grasp properly as the ball rolled across the goal line. As though motivated, the Linden unit started to make several raids on the Kings goal but poor finishing by Terrence Aaron let the East Coast side off the hook.

Aaron atoned for his misses when he headed home the equalizer at the far post from a right side cross four minutes after the half time break. Thereafter neither side could create a goal scoring opportunity as they were content on just kicking the ball away from danger for the remainder of the contest.
Kings moved to 5 points while Top XX earned their first point in a game from which they should have taken maximum points.

The final three games of round one will be played at the Buxton Community ground tomorrow where unbeaten leaders, GDF tackle the only other unbeaten team, second placed Fruta Conquerors in the first game at 16:00 hrs. The second match-up will feature Monedderlust against Kings and in the ‘night cap’, home side Buxton United do battle with Top XX.