Pele FC clinched the third spot in the League Genesis of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League, squeaking past archrival Fruta Conquerors by a 1-0 margin at the Leonora Sports Facility on Sunday.
Omallo Williams made the difference with a 59th minute conversion to seal the $1 million third place prize. For their efforts, Fruta Conquerors pocketed $500,000.
With their last showdown ending scoreless, Pele fired an early warning shot in the 11th minute as Gregory Richardson was denied by the custodian from the top of the box.
Similarly, Delon Williams of Fruta Conquerors was denied in the 30th minute from within the centre of the box as his right-footed shot was directed straight at the keeper. The veteran Williams nearly broke the deadlock eight minutes onward, latching onto a flat left-sided cross from Eon Alleyne before directing his effort towards the goal, only to be cleared off the line by the final defender.
The second period began in identical fashion to the first half as Pele came close to taking the lead in the 48th minute as Richardson, upon racing onto a lobbed pass within the box, struck a tame effort into the grasp of the onrushing keeper.
On the other end, Kwame LaFleur went close seconds later for the Tucville unit, directing his header wide of the right corner after collecting a right-sided pass from Delon Williams within the centre of the penalty box.
Jermin Junior was then presented with a great chance to give Fruta Conquerors the lead in the 58th minute, latching onto a left-sided Alleyne pass within the top of the box, only to fail to unleash his effort compliments of the onrushing defence.
The aforesaid miss returned to haunt the Tucville unit as Williams netted seconds later on the resulting counterattack, racing onto a through pass within the left side of the box before clinically finishing into the lower right hand corner past the advancing keeper.
Richardson almost made it 2-0 in the 77th minute, racing into the right side of the box after spinning past his marker, only to put his right-footed effort over the crossbar.
On the other side, Alleyne volleyed his effort wide of the left corner from within the box, after collecting a cross following a right-sided Delon Williams corner kick in the 83rd minute.
The matchup ended as it began with Pele fashioning an attempt on goal in the 90th+2 minute as Richardson missed a great chance to add his name to the scorer’s sheet. Latching onto a quick kick from the keeper, Richardson skipped past the onrushing keeper within the right side of the box, only to shoot his effort into the side netting following pressure from the trailing defenders.
In the grand finale, Slingerz FC was crowned the champion after defeating Alpha United by a 3-2 score line.
