… Double-header for Leonora ground today

TWO more teams will walk the line while two will book their places in the round of 16 of the STAG Nations Cup knockout when action continues today at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, Leonora, West Coast Demerara with a double-header.East Bank’s Kuru Kururu Warriors will battle West Demerara’s Den Amstel in the feature match at 20:30hrs with the curtain-raiser between another West side team, Young Achievers, and City side Northern Rangers, from 18:30hrs.
Matches will continue tomorrow at the #5 ground in West Berbice when round-of-16 action commences seriously. Cougars will match skills with Riddim Squad in opening play from 19:00hrs with the main attraction being between Police and Rosignol United.
In opening day rivalry at the Golden Grove ground, East Coast Demerara last Wednesday night, New Amsterdam United (NAU) staved off the early onslaught from Golden Stars of East Demerara to prevail in sudden-death kicks from the penalty mark, while City side Flamingo needled Mahaicony Thunderhawks.

Battling in the feature match following the official kickoff of the tournament by Director of Sport Christopher Jones, on field rivalry commenced in earnest with teams battling to get into the round of 16.
Enjoying good home support, Golden Stars ventured out in confidence and were all over the New Amsterdam side who were playing their first competitive match for the year. They (NAU) showed signs of lethargy but as the match progressed they began to settle in and hold their own.
Golden Stars have only themselves to blame as they set up shop in the NAU half of the field for a greater part of the first half; created a plethora of chances but failed miserably to finish. Their lapses certainly came back to haunt them later as they flopped in crunch time, allowing the team from the East to prevail, much to the disappointment of the home fans.
The second half saw NAU showing more signs of competitiveness and as the match wore on the momentum swung their way. After regulation and 15 minutes of extra time failed to separate the two teams, kicks from the penalty spot was the next option.
NAU scored their first three kicks through captain Leonardo Adams, Graham Thomas, and Steffon Boucher but missed their fourth shot whilst the fifth was saved by Golden Stars custodian Akomo Jack.
Jack scored his team’s first goal, NAU’s goalie Jovano Dos Santos punched away their next shot on goal which was taken by Carlos Kingston who also threw away a sitter from inside the box early in the match.
Their next goal was scored by Rundel Liverpool, after which Stephon Walcott hit the crossbar and their fifth was clinically put away to leave the score tied at 3-3 after the first five kicks.
The home team, under pressure, threw away their first sudden-death kick which was taken by Calvin Lilly who made way for NAU’s Shakeel Grant who made no mistake in slamming the ball past Jack to send the home team packing whilst booking a date with Grove Hi Tech in the round of 16 on December 23 at the Diamond ground, EBD.
Flamingo sealed a memorable victory early in the clash with a tough Mahaicony Thunderhawks and owed their passage and date with fellow City side Western Tigers on Sunday at the GFC ground, to their inspirational captain, the indefatigable Shemroy Porter.
Thirteen minutes into the match and during a period when the Thunderhawks were all over the Flamingos, Porter was smart in seeing Thunderhawks goalie Mark Roberts just off his line, as he worked his way into the attacking third.
With the goal about 25 yards in sight, Porter let loose a ripping left-foot dagger that sailed and curled past the outstretched hands of Roberts to settle at the back of the net. It was a goal that had all and sundry in the ground applauding and was a fitting way to start the tournament.
In remarks before officially kicking the tournament off, Director of Sport Christopher Jones complimented the organisers for bringing together five of the GFF associations.
He said that the National Sports Commission (NSC) and by extension the Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, Youth and Sport will continue to support in any way possible tournaments of this nature to ensure young footballers have every opportunity to showcase their skills.
“We note the current rehabilitation work that is being done at the Golden Grove ground and this ground is testimony to the fact that the NSC and the Ministry of Education are committed to sports development. This Golden Grove ground would have benefited from the community ground enhancement fund.”
“This is just one ground and we want to pledge that those of you who are participating in the tournament from New Amsterdam, from Region 3, from the East Bank and other areas rest assured that in 2017 similar facilities would be coming in your direction, because from the 2017 budget allocation we can now boast that similar facilities like these would be erected in every region across the length and breadth of the country.”
Jones noted that this is all reality because of a commitment that was made to the people of Guyana by His Excellency President David Granger and the APNU/AFC Administration.
“We intend to fulfil those promises that we made to you and we want you to rest assured that in 2017 you will see the reciprocity of your votes that you would have cast in 2015 being made a reality.”
Jones told the teams that the only way they can be number one is by working hard: “So note that this tournament is not just about games. This is about competition and of course from the ultimate squad that comes out successfully, we would be scouting to identify those footballers who we would want to be a part of a national squad to represent the red, black, gold, white and green. Play hard and may the best team win.”