Fruta Conquerors bounce back with win in season six

WEST Coast Demeara power house and league favourites Slingerz FC had their most wobbly performance yet in the early stages of the Guyana Football Federation KFC Elite League when they took on a tenacious Santos FC in the feature match-up on Saturday at the National Training Centre Ground at Providence.

The Slingerz side, which won the first season of the league a few years ago, has had one of the most explosive starts since their promotion this year, with hefty wins against former champions Fruta Conquerors and Monedderlust.

However, Santos’s style of play and fight in the first half of their encounter raised some questions about Slingerz’ defence.

In the opening minutes of the clash, Michael Oie pounced on a pass, beating the Slingerz defence and a far-too-eager goal- keeper Akel Clarke to hand them an easy goal for the lead.

Slingerz, whose offence has been in third gear, quickly found their touch to make several raids thereafter on Santos FC’s 30-yard circle without much success
It was former Santos skipper turned Slingerz player Darren Niles in the 45th minute that broke through after a few missed attempts to put the ball on target.

The goal brought the momentum and energy back into Slingerz’s camp as they began to impose their will on the contest.

Bryan Wharton would prove less wasteful as he made it 2-1 with his first in injury time of the first half as they went into the break, up 2-1.

After the resumption, Santos again played with determination to avoid further damage for most of the second half before Marcus Tudor put Slingerz’s third goal in the back of the net in added time for the 3-1 win.

Meanwhile, in the night’s opening encounter, former winners Fruta Conquerors looked closer to their best with a comfortable victory over Den Amstel.

Den Amstel’s defence held up to scrutiny until the 45th minute when Naron Jerrick slipped pass the Den Amstel back line and sent a powerful strike past their custodian.

An error in defence by the Tucville-based Fruta caused an overreaction by their defender, resulting in a penalty after a foul in the box.

Den Amstel, eager to score an equalizer, took full advantage as Anthony Benn buried it to level the scores.

Fruta was not done as they started to open the game with intensity and sharp passes to further dominate possession, but they continued to blunder in the final third as the score line remained 1-1.

Makhaya Jarvis would be the difference maker in the latter stages of the second half with a critical brace in the 60th and 64th minutes to give them a healthy lead.

Fruta had several chances to add to their lead, but failed to connect to the back of the nets as they ran out 3-1 winners.