Melanie and Buxton secured hard-fought wins when the inaugural ‘592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival’ commenced on Sunday at the Buxton Community Centre ground.
Melanie overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeated Brushe Dam 2-1 in front of a sizable crowd. Jermin Costello handed Brushe Dam the unlikely lead as he found the back of the net in the 10th minute, lashing his effort past the custodian from inside the penalty box.
The lead would last until the end of the first half interval. Melanie would eventually fashion the equalizer in the 60th minute through William Europe.
The goal emanated from a brilliant through pass down the centre of the field which was latched onto by Europe, who calmly slotted into the lower right corner past the advancing goalkeeper, following a one on one situation.
The go-ahead winner was then realized eight minutes later as Julian Bamfield made his presence felt.
Bamfield clinically slotted his right foot effort into the centre of the net, after receiving a pass unchallenged from the right side of the penalty box.
Similarly Buxton needled Plaisance 1-0 in a cagey and bruising affair. Eon Costello recorded the only conversion of the match, placing his effort into the far corner in the 35th minute.
Action continues on Friday at the Golden Grove ground. At 19:00hrs, Melanie will lock horns with Ann’s Grove while the feature match will pit Victoria against Paradise from 21:00hrs.
The event features 12 teams battling in an initial group format. Group-A comprises Buxton, Plaisance and Mahaica, with group-B consisting of Friendship, Paradise and Victoria and group-C featuring Brush Dam, Melanie and Ann’s Grove.
Group-D contains Annandale, Golden Grove and Beterverwagting [BV]. The winner of each group will advance to the semi-final round. The grand finale is pegged for December 14th.
Winner of the event will pocket $300,000 and the championship trophy, with the second, third and fourth place finisher collecting $150,000, $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding accolade.
Individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player [MVP] and the Best Goalkeeper.
Among the other sponsors of the event are Bakewell Guyana Incorporated and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.
Complete Results
Game-1
Melanie-2 vs Brushe Dam-1
Melanie Scorers
William Europe-60th
Julian Bamfield-68th
Brushe Dam Scorer
Jermin Castillo-10th
Game-2
Buxton-1 vs Plaisance-0
Eon Castello-35th
