Golden Grove and Friendship clinched quarterfinal places Sunday in the inaugural ‘592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival’ at the Golden Grove Community ground.
Witnessed by a large crowd, Golden Grove bested Annandale 4-0 while Friendship defeated Paradise 2-1. The win propelled both teams into the elimination round. Seretsi Huntley handed Golden Grove the perfect start in their matchup, lobbing a right foot effort from outside the box into the top right corner of the net.
Quason McAulay made his presence felt in the 18th minute to double their advantage, uncorking a powerful right foot effort from outside of the penalty area into the left side. The contest was effectively sealed seven minute later as captain Dwain Jacobs scored. It was a fortuitous conversion as a left footed shot slipped through the grasp of the goalkeeper and settled into the back of the net.
The finishing touch was applied in the 60th minute as McAulay sealed his double, thumping a powerful effort into the roof of the left corner from the left of the penalty box. On the other hand, Dillon Wright gave Friendship the lead in the 32nd minute. Latching onto a right sided cross, Wright uncorked a left foot strike which slipped through the grasp of the goalkeeper and settled into the right corner.
Wright would make his presence felt once more in the 51st minute. It was a similar conversion to his first goal as a left foot strike from the left of the box fizzed into the back of the net. Paradise would eventually pull one back in the 80th minute through Tyreek Cummings, who blasted his effort past the goalkeeper from inside the area.
The event resumes at the Buxton ground on Sunday with the opening round of the quarterfinal section.
The grand finale is pegged for January 1st.
The winning team will pocket $300,000 and the championship trophy while the second, third and fourth place finisher will receive $150,000, $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy.
Similarly, individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player [MVP] and the Best Goalkeeper. Some of the major sponsors of the tournament include Bakewell Guyana Incorporated, ExxonMobil, and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.
Complete Results
Game-1
Friendship-2 vs Paradise-1
Friendship Scorer
Dillon Wright-32nd and 51st
Paradise Scorer
Tyreek Cummings-80th
Game-2
Golden Grove-4 vs Annandale-0
Quason McAulay-18th and 60th
Seretsi Huntley-5th
Dwain Jacobs-25th
