Golden Stars started their 2009 East Coast Demerara Mackeson Premier League on a winning note when they edged Bakewell Buxton Stars 1-0 at Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground on Wednesday night.

Courtney Clarke netted for Golden Grove in the 29th minute when he beat Buxton’s custodian, Tyrone Warren, with a powerful left foot shot after he had received a beautiful cross from Randy King.

The game’s pace was quite  hot as both teams tried to dominate each other. Buxton should have equalized ten minutes later when overlapping defender Neville Gulliver took a shot from close range but the ball sailed over the cross bar.

Golden Stars then began settling down and slowly taking control of the battle as they displayed superior technique that caused them to dominate ball possession also.

In the second half Buxton injected fresh legs in search of the equalizer but it never came even as Buxton Stars kept pressing forward against the solid defense of Golden Stars.

The feature game which kicked off at 7pm had Victoria Kings playing to a stalemate with Ann’s Grove United.

Kings, whose field was packed with mostly under-20 and reserve players could have paid dearly for having such an inexperienced lineup for that match since Ann’s Grove raided their defence frequently in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Ann’s Grove showed their fitness and energy but lacked technique which allowed the Kings to regain their shape after the first 30 minutes.

The youthful Victoria Kings side began to settle and played confidently to match the opposition’s play to bring about the final result of a draw.