… Police, Riddim Squad contest third place
WESTERN Tigers Football Club and Santos Football Club have earned a potentially mouthwatering date in the final of the STAG Nations Cup knock-out football championship, following hard-fought and contrasting semi-final victories last Sunday night at the GFC ground.
Western Tigers, having lost the Mayor’s Cup final to Police, were out to exact revenge and that they did, 6-5 via sudden-death kicks from the penalty mark following a grinding 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and extra times which saw both sides squander chances.
Santos fought off the late efforts of an ordinary-looking Riddim Squad and their lone goal of the game which came off the boot of Delon David in the 31st minute was enough to take them to the championship match on Saturday which has at stake $3M – the winning club set to pocket $2M.
Such were the fitness and confidence of the Santos side that they only instituted one change during the course of the match, David making way for Rawle Adams in the 46th minute. Riddim Squad utilised three subs but just could not find the back of the net even as their subs added life to their attack.
Despite spirited efforts in the final 20 minutes, Riddim Squad were unable to breach the Santos defence and had to settle for a third-place playoff against the Guyana Police Force (GPF) who had succumbed to the Tigers in the feature match of the night.
The ultra-fit Police side who had run riot in the earlier stages of the competition finally met their match, as the rampaging Tigers – who had also been destructive in their preceding matches of the championship – cooled down the lawmen.
The Tigers, one of the teams who have shown a high level of organisation in offence and defence in their matches, again replicated that discipline which eventually brought them over the line after enduring a stern test by the cops.
Western took the lead on 35 minutes, Dwayne McLennon tucking his shot past the Police goalie, Darius Frank. They kept the momentum going even as Police made a few enterprising runs into Western’s final third and looked the most dangerous from the crosses.
It was not until the 61st minute that the GPF were rewarded for their efforts when Quincy Holder surprised Tigers custodian Troy Carrington with a well-placed shot to nullify their advantage, at 1-1. It was game on.
At times it looked like the GPF would have overpowered the Tigers with their robust play. Substitute Junior Gordon who was introduced in the 60th minute made rings around the Tigers with his pinpoint crosses into the box. One such cross was narrowly kept out by the crossbar after one of his teammates had already beaten Carrington with his header.
Regulation time did not see any more goals and the 1-1, which was taken over to extra time, remained the same. Kicks from the penalty mark were the next option to decide the winner and at the end of the first five, the score was locked at 2, with both sides missing three shots.
The respective goalkeepers did an excellent job, especially Tigers’ Carrington. Jamal Pedro and Cleon Forrester were the players to score for Western while for Police, Rawl Turnell (sub) and Dwayne Charles were on target to keep their team in the hunt.
In the sudden-death period, the first team to miss lost. Western Tigers were flawless as they scored four with Police missing their fourth, Travis Jones being the culprit. His teammates, Kester Dundas, Attio Wallace and Keron Boston (sub) tucked their chances away but went to naught.
Scoring for the victorious Tigers were Shane Morris (sub), Darren Benjamin, Joshua Britton (sub) and Ryan Adolph.
Saturday is championship day when Western Tigers face Santos while Police will play Riddim Squad in the third-place match with $500 000 and $300 000 up for grabs.
