… Den Amstel humble Milerock FC to finish third

FRUTA Conquerors edged Western Tigers 1-0 while Den Amstel had the better of Milerock FC 3-0, when the curtain came down on the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite League on Friday evening at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

Despite being a foregone conclusion, with winners of the League being Fruta Conquerors, the results determined how the teams were positioned at the end of the 18-game season.

The outcome means that Guyana Defence Force (GDF), last season’s winners, will occupy second place behind Fruta Conquerors, Den Amstel move up the ladder to third place and Western Tigers settle for a fourth-place finish in their Elite League debut.

Western Tigers (38 points), the only team to hand Fruta Conquerors a loss this season, went into the game against the Tucville-based team needing a victory, since a win would have seen them climb above the ‘Army’ (40 points) in the points standings.

However, Fruta Conquerors had other plans and Ryan Hackett’s 21st minute strike was enough to seal the win for coach Sampson Gilbert’s men.

The Calvin Allen-coached Western Tigers football club, in 18 outings in the Elite League, only tasted defeat once (1-2 against the GDF), while winning 11 games and drawing five to close on 38 points.

Meanwhile, behind Delon Lanferman, Den Amstel scored 46 goals, only second to Fruta Conquerors (51), while conceding just 12 goals. Only Fruta Conquerors (six) have conceded fewer goals than coach O’Neal Heywood’s side.

Lanferman scored for the ‘West Side’ team in the 75th minute after Junior Gordon had given his side the lead in the 49th minute. National defender Kester Jacobs scored in the 86th minute – the third and final goal of the game to hand Milerock FC their 11th defeat.

Milerock FC, the only club out of Linden in the Elite League, wanted to finish on a ‘high’ to bring an end to their horrible run this season.

After 18 games played, the Linden club had found success on the pitch only four times and had drawn three games, with 11 losses being better than only New Amsterdam United (12) and Cougars FC (15).