Santos Football Club were crowned champions of the inaugural Supligen U-20 round robin football competition which ended recently.
Santos defeated pre-match favorites Fruta Conquerors by a lone goal scored by Laurex Fraser almost on the stroke of halftime.
The goal came about after the tricky midfielder Chris Camacho eluded his marker and made a diagonal run towards the 18-yard box.
Upon seeing Conquerors goalkeeper advancing Camacho sent a square pass to teammate Fraser who easily tapped the ball home.
At halftime the score line was unchanged and upon resumption the complexion of the game changed from a relatively quite encounter characterized by poor finishing from both teams to a robust encounter as Fruta Conquerors sought desperately for the equalizer.
What seemed to be the equalizer came five minutes into the second half when a long cross from the Conquerors left winger was booted into the goal.
However, the celebrations by the Conquerors players and supporters was cut short when referee Steve James ruled off side.
Fruta Conquerors regrouped and applied pressure but custodian O’Neil Heywood in goal was equal to the task and made many brilliant saves.
Santos came close to increasing the lead with effective counter attacks on a few occasions but and at the end of play, Fraser’s lone goal proved to be enough for Santos to be crowned Supligen U-20 champions.
Before the match, the two teams were met by the newly-appointed general secretary of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Noel Adonis and GFA’s president Mr. Troy Mendonca.
In the third placed match between the University of Guyana and Buxton United, a Corwin Barnwell hat trick in the 20th, 42nd, and 43rd minutes, along with strikes from Denver Dennis in the fourth and an Orson Washington double in the 29th and 66th minutes saw Buxton United inflicting a 6-2 defeat on the University of Guyana team whose goals were scored by Layne Thomas in the 49th minute and Paul McWatt in the 56th.
The competition was sponsored by the Nestlé’s company under the Supligen Boost U- Up brand. The prize giving ceremony will be held shortly.
