Sunburst Camptown Football Club overcame an ambitious Uprising unit while Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United conquered Fruta Conquerors when action in the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) GT&T Cellink Plus sponsored Premier League continued at the Tucville ground on Sunday night.
Camptown turned back the challenge of Uprising with a 5-1 victory which propelled them to the top spot with 13 points while Alpha, who needed a win to renew their fighting spirit in this year’s competition, won 3-1.
Playing in the feature match of the double header, Alpha had to withstand relentless attacks from Conquerors who were playing on their home ground backed by a throng of vociferous supporters.
Winger Jomo Hinds, who had an excellent game, started the ball rolling with a magnificent solo run deep into Alpha’s half but his cross was intercepted by Rudyan Thomas who was sturdy in defence for Alpha.
A see-saw battle took place afterwards as both teams sought to gain the initiative in a keenly-contested encounter.
Alpha’s Elton Browne had a magnificent shot blocked by Conquerors’ defensive stalwart Neville (Smutty) Stanton who also had a wonderful game for his team as he thwarted many of Alpha’s runs at the back.Conquerors’ custodian Oswald Cornette was made to work overtime by a hungry strike duo of Browne and Quincy Madramootoo who tried many shots to goal as they sought to break the drought their team went through in their last three matches.
Browne won a free kick at the top of Conquerors’ box in the 20th minute but Cornette pulled off another magnificent save from the resulting shot from Shawn (Fatso) Bishop which curled its way around the four man wall set up by Conquerors.
Alpha continued to raid their opponent’s goal and it came as no surprise when Madramootoo, who received a gem of a pass from Bishop, went around his marker just after the halfway line and made his way towards his opponents’ goal.
He dummied an intended pass to Browne and in the same motion, let loose a hard left footer which went low to the left of an unmoved Cornette and ripped into the back of the net to spark off celebrations amongst the Alpha supporters.
The goal awoke both teams especially Alpha who continued to attack at every given opportunity.
They displayed speed and agility which was emphasized when Travis Martin eluded his marker and ran onto a loose ball that went past the off side trap set by Conquerors.
Martin outran the Conquerors’ defenders and when Cornette advance out of his goal, calmly went around him and patted the ball into an open goal to give his team a 2-0 lead at lemon time.
The second half began with Alpha looking to increase their lead whilst Conquerors tried to locate at least a consolation goal.
In the 48th minute, Dellon Williams, who was working overtime for Conquerors, sent a shot just wide of the first post with Alpha’s custodian Adrian Giddings nowhere in sight.
Madramootoo continued to harass the Conquerors’ defence and were it not for a sliding effort by Stanton; his low hard shot would have rocked the back of the nets in the 54th minute.Five minutes later, Dwayne Jacobs sent his shot hard, high and handsome over Conquerors’ goal.
Alpha finally managed to break down the defensive mode of Stanton as they placed Bishop on the left whilst Browne and Madramootoo operated in the middle thus leaving a weakened Conquerors’ defence to the mercy of Alpha.
Kelvin Smith, another one of Alpha’s players, who enjoyed a wonderful night on the field, then sent a through ball to Jacobs who ran past the offside trap set by Conquerors leaving the defence in his wake.
Cornette advanced to close the goal angle, but a composed Jacobs rounded the custodian and calmly slotted the ball into an open goal to send his team up by three goals.
Even though Conquerors got a consolation goal in the 75th minute from their substitute Paul Bobb who had replaced a tired looking Hinds in the 72nd minute, it was clear that the home team could not come back and when the final whistle sounded, the result was 3-1 in favour of Alpha.
In the opening encounter, Camptown, who were in second place prior to the start of the match had to withstand the pressure of Uprising who attacked their opponents from the opening whistle.
Camptown, however, took the lead when Lance Rolston fired home a shot following a pass that rebounded off the legs of former national player Wayne Giles in 29th minute.
Even with the services of former nationals Anthony ‘Lambada’ Stanton, Dexter ‘Dribbler’ Bentick and Rawle’ Overseas’ Jones, Uprising found it hard to penetrate the defence of Camptown who got a renewed burst of energy from the goal.
Giles who was cautioned by referee Otis James earlier received a booking for a dangerous play committed on Troy Prescod at the right corner flag in his own half.
The free kick taken by Prescod himself was parried for a corner by Rodwell Sandy. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Camptown as Prescod, who took the kick himself, placed the ball in at the back of the net to send Camptown 2-0 up at lemon time.
When play resumed in the second half, Camptown was bent on humiliating their opponents who were finding it difficult to locate their forwards and whenever they did which was a rarity, Bentick was guilty of over dribbling the ball which proved detrimental to his team later on.
Kwame La Fleur enjoyed a good night for Camptown with some sporadic runs at his opponents and from one such play, he sent a pass to Marvin Joseph who wormed his way into the box and let loose a ripper that Sandy had no answer to in the 75th minute.
Two minutes later, it was 4-0 in favour of Camptown when Joseph got his second goal courtesy of a Rolston pass and when Prescod completed his second following an infringement committed in the box, it was evident that the wind was knocked completely out of Uprising’ sail and they were waiting for the final whistle.
Even though they got a consolation goal in the dying stages of the game through Mark Lawrence, it was not good enough for them as they could not prevent the victors from going to the top of the points table.
Action will continue on Friday at the same venue with Georgetown Football Club opposing Pele from 6pm whilst the feature matchup will pit points leaders Sunburst Camptown and Guyana Defence Force from 8pm.
