Fruta Conquerors secured their third consecutive victory in the Guyana Football Federation Stag Beer Elite League, outplaying Alpha United 3-1 Friday at the Leonora Sports Facility.
The fixture, which mirrored a rugby contest due to poor and inconsistent officiating, was the Tucville unit’s sixth win of the competition. Similarly, it was their first victory over Alpha United in four years.
Jahaal Greaves, Eon Alleyne and Hubert Pedro scored in the 31st, 67th and 81st minutes respectively to seal the vital three points. Scoring a consolation goal in the 90th+3 minute was Delon Lanferman.
Due to the win, Fruta Conquerors solidified their second place in the standings, climbing to 19 points while moving five clear of Alpha United who remain on 14 points.
With few chances being afforded in the first period due to the ‘stop-start’ nature of the contest, Alpha United registered the first noteworthy attempt on target in the 10th minute through centre-half Solomon Austin.
Pouncing on a loose clearance at the top of the box, Austin volleyed his right foot effort onto the right post, only to see the ball deflect and roll onto the left upright, much to the amazement of both teams and the small gathering.
That near miss seemed to set the tone for the emergence of the Tucville unit as Alleyne was denied 10 minutes later. Racing into the left of the box, Alleyne lashed a powerful left foot drive which was inadvertently parried over the head of the challenging ‘keeper and heading to over the goal-line, only to be cleared by the defender.
A simple error eventually gifted the Tucville unit the lead 11 minutes onward as Greaves upon latching onto a poor thrown clearance by the keeper into his path, skipped past two challenges while heading into the right of the box before finishing past the keeper.
While the goal was pleasing on the eyes, the rendition of West Indies ‘Champion Dance’ alongside the actual song brought the loudest cheers from the crowd.
With the score remaining unchanged heading into the half time interval, the quality in officiating continued to plummet. The first casualty of the period was Okeene Fraser of Fruta Conquerors who was shown a red card in the 63rd minute while on the substitute’s bench for using abusive language to the official.
Nonetheless, the Tucville unit doubled their lead four minutes later in sublime fashion as Alleyne scored. It was a goal of sheer quality as Alleyne volleyed a thunderous right foot strike within the left of the box into the top right hand corner, after collecting a headed pass from Captain Trevon Lythcott.
Like the previous goal, the celebration mirrored the first, much to the approval of the partisan crowd. The viewership was given another treat from the youthful outfit as Pedro delivered the nail in the coffin.
It was a superb strike from Pedro who was not be outdone by his teammate, turning his marker inside the left of the box upon collecting a Greaves pass before delivering a bullet right foot strike into the top right hand corner.
With the contest winding down, Alpha United was reduced to 10 players in the 90th+2 minute as William Europe picked up his second yellow card.
The Hammers eventually snatched a consolation goal in the dying seconds as Lanferman finished into the right hand corner, after cutting across the body of the final defender inside the centre of the box.
Meanwhile, league leaders Slingerz FC claimed their eighth consecutive win thus far, edging strugglers Pele FC by a 2-1 margin. Devon Millington and Julian Wade scored for the West Demerara outfit while Jumane Somerset scored for the loser.
With the win, Slingerz FC move to 24 points while Pele remain on seven points.
Current Points Standings
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Slingerz 8 8 0 0 22 3 +19 24
Fruta Conquerors 8 6 1 1 20 9 +11 19
Alpha United 8 4 2 2 18 8 +10 14
GDF 7 3 2 2 11 12 -1 11
Pele 8 2 5 1 5 12 -7 7
Buxton United 7 1 4 2 5 10 -5 5
Monedderlust 7 0 4 3 4 16 -12 3
GFC 7 0 6 1 6 21 -15 1
