GOLDEN Grove and Friendship secured their berths to the quarterfinal round when the inaugural ‘592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival’ continued on Sunday at the Golden Grove Community ground.

Golden Grove crushed Annandale 4-0 in front of a large partisan crowd. Sirestsi Huntley opened the scoring in the fifth minute, blasting a powerful shot into the top right-hand corner.

The second goal came in the 18th minute as Quason McAulay scored, compliments of a right-foot drive into the far corner from outside the penalty area.

Veteran forward and captain, Dwain Jacobs, made it 3-0 in the 25th minute with a left foot effort which slipped through the grasp of the goalkeeper and settled into the back of the net.

The final nail in the coffin was then applied in the 60th minute as McAulay rifled a powerful effort into the roof of the left corner.

Meanwhile, Friendship edged Paradise 2-1. Dillon Wright opened the scoring for Friendship in the 32nd minute, lashing a left-foot shot from inside the box which rolled under the body of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Wright then scored his second in the 51st minute with another left-foot shot into the far corner from inside the box.

Tyreek Cummings scored a consolation goal for Paradise in the 80th minute, blasting a powerful effort past the custodian from inside the 18-yard area.

The event resumes at the Buxton ground on Sunday, December 15th with the opening round of the quarterfinal.

Initially, the 12-team event featured four groups of three. Group-A comprised Buxton, Plaisance and Mahaica, while group-B consisted of Friendship, Paradise and Victoria and group-C featured Brush Dam, Melanie and Ann’s Grove. 

Group-D was made up of Annandale, Golden Grove and Beterverwagting [BV]. The winner of each group, alongside the second place finisher, advanced to the quarterfinal round. The grand finale is pegged for January 1st.

The eventual champion of the event will pocket $300,000 and the championship trophy. On the other hand, the second, third and fourth place finishers will receive $150,000, $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy.

Similarly, individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player [MVP] and the Best Goalkeeper. Some of the major sponsors of the tournament include Bakewell Guyana Incorporated, ExxonMobil, and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.