Following the conclusion of the respective intra-association zones, the Guyana Football Federation [GFF] conducted the official random draw yesterday for the National Championship leg of the KFC Independence U20 Club Knockout Football Cup.
The simple ceremony was conducted at the KFC Vlissengen Road office and was administered by GFF Director of Competitions Ian Alves. The event will commence on Saturday at the National Training Centre, Providence.
The teams were divided into two groups, with pot-1 featuring the majority of the respective zone winners and pot-2 consisting of the corresponding runners-up. Rupununi Strikers, winner of the Rupununi leg were awarded a berth to the quarterfinal round due to financial constraints. Pot-1 comprised Fruta Conquerors [Georgetown Champion], New Amsterdam (NA) United [Berbice Champion], Botofago [Upper Demerara Football Association Champion], Potaro Strikers [Bartica Champion], Timehri Panthers [East Bank Demerara Champion], Pouderoyen [West Demerara Champion] and Buxton United [East Coast Demerara Champion].
Pot-2 contained of Queenstown [Essequibo/Pomeroon champion], Soesdyke [East Bank Demerara runner-up], Amelia’s Ward Panthers [Upper Demerara runner-up], Den Amstel [West Demerara runner-up}, Dynamic FC [East Coast Demerara runner-up], Cougars FC [Berbice runner-up] and Santos [Georgetown runner-up].
The first round of the draw paired Timehri Panthers against Soesdyke while NA United and Amelia’s Ward Panthers were matched and Botofago and Den Amstel were pitted against each other.
The fourth round witnessed Potaro being paired against Dynamic while Fruta Conquerors was drawn against Cougars. In the final two rounds, Buxton United was paired with Queenstown while Pouderoyen was matched with arch-rival Santos.
The respective winners will advance to the quarterfinal round on June 22nd. Prior to the official draw, the presentation ceremony for the respective zone winners and runners-up was staged.
Winner of the national tournament will pocket $500,000 and a trophy, while the runner-up will walk away with $300,000. On the other hand, the third place side will collect $200,000.
Complete Fixtures
Saturday June 15th
Timehri Panthers vs Soesdyke Falcons-9:00am
Botofago vs Den Amstel-11:00am
NA United vs Amelia Ward-1:00pm
Potaro Strikers vs Dynamic-3:30pm
Sunday June 16th
Fruta Conquerors vs Cougars-11:00am
Buxton United vs Queenstown-1:00pm
Pouderoyen vs Santos-3:30pm