Alpha United and BV/ Triumph United are the first teams through to the semi-finals of the NAMILCO knockout football Festival following tough quarter-final matches Tuesday evening at the Tucville Playfield.
Alpha United, George-town premier league champions battled to a 1-0 win over Camptown in a match that produced intermittent sparks but no real fire as both teams squandered several scoring opportunities.
The game’s lone goal was scored in the 52nd minute by Elton Brown following a goal mouth scrimmage after the ball was chipped over from the left flank.
The ball hit the upright and went over the line and the referee signalled goal while the Camptown players protested.
Camptown had only themselves to blame for not scoring in the first half after making some promising runs in their opponents’ goal area but failed to capitalise on the opportunities.
Troy Prescod tried some hard and tantalising free kicks but they all fell short of finding their target.
Alpha United will now clash with BV/Triumph United who disposed of Georgetown Football Club (GFC) 4-3 in their showdown.
The East Coast side took the lead when GFC conceded an own goal in the 17th minute, and then Delroy Deen netted two goals in four minutes to cause more agony for the Bourda side.
Deen found the back of the net in the 26th minute and was on target once again in the 30th to give his team a 3-0 lead, but GFC recovered from their earlier misery to pull back two goals before half time.
George Ndifom struck in the 33rd minute then Michael Rowe scored in the 36th as their team trailed 2-3 at half time.
GFC fought desperately to secure the equaliser in the second half but their woes were further compounded when Colin John’s strike in the 81st minute gave BV/ Triumph a 4-2 lead and they held on with a little bit of time wasting in the process.
Almost on the stroke of the final whistle Marlon Cole scored goal number three for GFC but it was a little too late as the Bourda team now joins some of Georgetown’s top teams on the sideline after they were knocked out in the earlier stage of the tournament.
Another two evenly contested quarterfinals was slated for last evening with Western Tigers taking on Pouderoyen of West Demerara, while Berbice side Monedderlust were up against the Guyana Defence Force.
The semi-final matches are set for tomorrow evening, while the final will be played on Sunday, all at the Tucville ground.
Tournament sponsors NAMILCO will once again be presenting gate prizes of hampers to lucky spectators.
The winners in the Festival will collect $400,000, with the runners-up taking home $200,000, third place $100,000 and fourth place $50,000.
There will be other incentive prizes including awards for the most valuable player (MVP), highest goal scorer, best goal keeper and young promising players (2).
