Linden All Stars storm into final with 4-2 over East Coast

IT was an intriguing sight to behold football once again on the highest scale in Guyana as the sport resumed with the Bounce Back Football organised by Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) Organisation. Prior to the commencement of the event, a huge amount of sponsors hopped onboarding to ensure the football’s successful return. The first match of the double- header at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, featured Linden All Stars and East Coast All Stars which began at quite a fast pace.

A well contested match was expected since a chance to make the Golden Jaguars roster was at stake aside from the large incentives for the top finisher and it was either win or go home. At the regulation time whistle the score line read 4-2 in favour of the Linden All Stars who will battle for top honors in the final which will be contested on New Year’s Day. The first 10 minutes was quite eventual with the probing being initiated by the young East Coast squad which had some good shots on goal but shortly after found themselves on the receiving end. A collision in the 8th minute almost put the East Coast goalkeeper, Shawn Adonis, out of the picture. He did recover but was evidently limping for the remainder of the first half.

That immediately put East Coast at a disadvantage since he was struggling to cover ground. Even though they controlled possession for the majority of the first half, it was the Mining Town All Stars who drew first blood. Taking on an injured custodian who had no replacement, Linden’s Curtez Kellman easily lobbed his effort over the head of Adonis in the 34thminute for the lead. Seven minutes later the lead was doubled when Abumuchi Benjamin successfully took on a defender and the goalkeeper and easily tucked his shot in the back of the net. East Coast was the aggressor for the entire first half while Linden played a slower, more composed game.

The second half was much of the same with a lot of chances squandered in front of goal by both sides. East Coast implemented a make-shift custodian but his inexperience allowed two early goals that put Linden comfortably ahead. Omari Glasgow managed to pull one back for East Coast in the 50th minute but goals from Jermain Junor (53rd) and Benjamin (58th) regained the momentum for Linden. Glasgow’s tireless effort down the wing must be commended since he was the backbone of the East Coast attack in contrast to the opposition’s team effort. A penalty attempt in the 79th minute taken by Jamar Harrigan was East Coast’s second and final goal as they fell well short of Linden’s performance. The night wrapped up with the Georgetown All Stars versus West Demerara showdown. Details of that match will be available in Chronicle Sport’s December 31 issue.