- fate of competition in the balance

By Rawle Toney

Winners Connection and Eagles United were in winners row when play in the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA), Coca Cola and Ministry of Culture,  Youth and Sports-sponsored football tournament continued on Tuesday at the Mackenzie Sports club ground in Linden.

In the opening game of the double header, Winners Connection downed Netrockers 2-0 with goals in each half.

Winners’ nifty striker Rawle “Bony” Gittens opened the scoring in the 40th minute after earlier squandering several easy opportunities.

Winners Connection continued to pressure the struggling Netrockers, who fielded a youthful team and in the 83rd minute Rene Gibbons, a regular goal scorer for his side, made his presence felt with a goal of his own.

It was Winners Connection’s first win of the second round and their third victory in the tournament. They are now in sixth position while Netrockers remain at the bottom of the table with 10 points.

In the second game of the night, Eagles United narrowly edged Blueberry Hill United 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Sean Major in the 38th minute after a goal mouth scrimmage from a free kick. Despite the loss Blue Berry Hill United are still in third place on 20 points.

Meanwhile, the UDFA is contemplating suspending the tournament indefinitely due to the closure of the Mackenzie Sports Club ground for renovation for the upcoming national schools track and field athletic championships.

According to UDFA president, Brian Joseph, there are only three remaining playing days left and after the national championships are concluded, there will be just enough time for the teams to take part in the annual Kashif and Shanghai tournament. The UDFA top brass said that the event was supposed to be used as a yard stick for selections of teams to the year end event and since they might be unable to complete the league, it will be hard to select the best teams from his association for the event.

However, Joseph said that would await the completion of the schools championships to see what would be the next move as the completion of the tournament is now in the hands of the administration of the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.