Abuzz with the success of Terron Alleyne, top student at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Lindeners welcomed the historic GT&T Fastball tournament in grand fashion with much pomp and ceremony Saturday evening at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground. Young Alleyne, who attended Regma Primary School, was paraded in front of the crowd and introduced to dignitaries at the opening ceremony.
Following the march past of over 30 teams and speeches from key personnel such as Minister of Sports Dr Frank Anthony and GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, Yog Mahadeo, four teams have already been booted out of the knockout competition.
The teams advancing to the second round were Commacka Mines, Amelia’s Ward ‘A’, Cool Runnings and Bakewell Topp XX ‘A’.
Commacka scored an emphatic 3-1 win over Eagles United using the innovative rules of the tournament to their advantage.
Darwin Daw netted three goals in the match including a (Blue ball double) to give his team victory after Eagles had struck the first blow through Derron Charles who netted in the eighth minute.
Despite the early setback, the Commacka players kept their composure as Daw equalized for his team in the 13th minute of the 30-minute match.
Daw netted when the Blue Ball was introduced three minutes before the final whistle and his goal was recorded as a double.
Amelia’s Ward also scored a 3-1 win over Ituni in another pulsating encounter.
Dellon Luke sent Amelia’s Ward into the lead in the second minute of play while Gavin Daw netted a double in the ninth and 20th minute for the winners.
Norville Adrian was the lone scorer for Ituni.
Cool Runnings went on a goal rampage against Net Rockers winning the game 5-0 with Ryan Crandon scoring a hattrick in the fourth, 11th and 25th minutes.
Rawle Gittens netted the other two goals for the winners in the 21st and 24th minutes. Former national captain Collie Hercules scored a blue ball double in the dying stages of the match as Topp XX squeezed past Kwakwani 4-2.
Topp XX raced into the lead thanks to strikes from Jaime Wilson and Quacy Johnson who scored in the 10th and 11th minute respectively to lead 2-0 at half time.
Kwakwani bounced back into contention with Dale Saucers and Roy Rogers scoring in the 20th and 23rd minutes before the team found itself in the penalty that give Hercules a golden opportunity with a six-second penalty which he converted.
Earlier, Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony declared open the tournament in the presence of GT&T Chief Executive officer Yog Mahadeo and PPP Presidential candidate Donald Ramotar.
Mahadeo said that GT&T was committed to improving the lives of Guyanese through its participation and support to community programmes.
He thanked Minister Anthony for his support and promised assistance to Alleyne who attained the highest marks at the National examination, stating to the young scholar “GT&T got your back” to loud applause.
The tournament continued last evening with several more matches in the Mining Town.
