… New Road Eagles claim third place

MARVIN Josiah was by far the most fascinating player in the competition and the Showstoppers talisman saved his best performance for last, scoring a helmet-trick of goals to help pilot his team to a 6-3 win over Stewartville Gunners when the final of the Ansa McAl/Stag Beer ‘West Side’ 5-A-Side football tournament was played last Sunday. The tournament which enjoyed great crowd support saw scores of people converge on the Vergenoegen Rice Mill Tarmac to witness the final. As a result Showstoppers went home with $200 000 for their victory and Josiah earned $10 000 for his Most Valuable Player (MVP) performance.
Stewartville Gunners had to settle for $100 000 while New Road Eagles, who defeated De Kinderen Village 9-1, collected $75 000 for finishing third.
The Gunners defeated De Kinderen Village 3-1 to book their place in the final against Showstoppers who defeated New Road Eagles 6-2 in their semi-final but fans and bookies thought the tournament’s final game would have had more to offer but instead, spectators were given the ‘Marvin Josiah Show’.
Josiah opened the score sheets, netting Showstoppers’ first goal in the 4th minute but five minutes later, Owen McGarrell equalised for Stewartville Gunners.
McGarrell’s goal had given his team’s supporters the perception that the game would be a closely fought one but Josiah had only just begun.
The tournament’s MVP went on to score three consecutive goals (24th, 25th, and 27th minutes) to put the eventual winners up 4-1.
Gideon Payne’s goal in the 35th minute added more misery for the Gunners whose facial expressions told their supporters it’s time to wave the white flag.
McGarrell scored his second goal of the evening in the 36th minute and Marvin Henry’s goal in the 38th minute tried to revive the eventual losers but Anthony Sancho slammed home Showstoppers’ final goal of the game in the 40th minute to seal an emphatic win for the champions.
Meanwhile, New Road Eagles, who had only lost once in the tournament, rebounded to slaughter De Kinderen Village in the third place game.
Simon Emmanuel scored a hat-trick (17th, 21st 28th) as well as Jermaine Junior (9th, 23rd, 25rd) while Paul Rodney’s double in the 11th and 37th minutes along Ravi Chand’s 38th minute strike did the damage for New Road Eagles.
An own goal in the 19th resulted in De Kinderen Village getting their lone goal and were rewarded with $25 000 for their fourth place finish.
“This was truly an exciting tournament,” said coordinator Collin ‘BL’ Aaron, adding “We want to thank all the sponsors and the people who turned up every night that helped make the tournament a major success.”
According to Aaron, “this is the first time a tournament like this is played on the West Side and hopefully it wouldn’t be the last. We have some other stuff in store that everyone will be hearing about shortly but again I’m very grateful for the support shown.”
After the game, patrons were entertained by Slingerz Family and local Dancehall sensations Jory and Jackie Jaxx.