Ann’s Grove triumph in East Coast derby for Elite League spot

A dominant performance on Wednesday night helped Ann’s Grove United maintain their spot in the GFF Elite League.
They have lived to play another season in the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Elite League following a clinical victory in the playoffs when they came up
against Mahaica Determinators FC for the final spot in season 7 of the League. The ‘East Coast Derby’ saw Ann’s Grove eventually prevailing 4-1 over the opposition.
As was later divulged by their head Coach Calvin Allen, some clever tactics went into pulling off the victory. The smattering of fans at the GFF’s National Training Center (NTC) at Providence, East Bank Demerara did not have to wait too long to witness some fireworks, as Dellon Wright opened the scoring for Ann’s Grove in the 23rd minute.

His teammate Youhancey Francis made it a 2-0 affair by finding the back of the net in the 45th+2, and Jaden Vangronigen stunned the Mahaica goalkeeper with an early goal in the second segment, pushing the score to 3-0 in the 49th.
However, the Mahaica Determinators fought back. Brian Jugador found himself sprinting towards the goal with the lone remaining Ann’s Grove defender. When that defender couldn’t keep pace with Jugador and the Ann’s Grove keeper opted to get low, Judagor needed only to chip the ball into the net for the Determinators’ first goal, scored in the 75th.
It was almost a 3-2 game minutes later, but that advance was shut down – smartly this time – by the Ann’s Grove keeper.
Adam Gonsalves later added the proverbial cherry on top the cake with a strike in the 90th+2 to seal the 4-1 win for Ann’s Grove.
In the aftermath of the win, Ann’s Grove Head Coach Calvin Allen attributed the win to his team’s ability to stick to their game plan, which he also detailed.
“Well, I think the guys execute the game plan I would say almost to perfection; because, at the end of the day, we concede, so it could never be perfect. But we executed the game plan well,” he disclosed.
“We observed what the (opposing) team was doing in their past few games, their strengths and weaknesses. We also play them in a warm-up game which gave us insight into their way of playing; and we realise they’re very energetic and they have quick front men, but they weren’t too good with building the play from the back,” Allen divulged.
“So, our plan was just not to give them any space behind our backs to run; and make sure (that) when their defenders defend the first ball, we try and win the second ball. It was about dominating the ball so we could take some of the energy away, and we know we have quality in the team that can get us the desired results in front, once we don’t give away anything at the back,” he explained.
Revealing one of their tactical secrets, Allen spoke of how their warm-up match against the Determinators had helped to prepare them for Wednesday night’s playoffs.
Allen cheekily divulged, “What we did in-house, and I can tell you this now, was that we scout the teams that we would potentially meet in the playoffs, but we also played as much warm-up games as possible, including Determinators; because we know there’s a possibility that’s one of the teams we would’ve faced, and the warm- up game showed us everything we need to see about them before this game tonight.”
With an eye on bettering their performance in this year’s Elite League, as compared to their 9th place finish in 2024, Allen shared what to expect from his team, including some fresh faces.
“We acquired a number of new players, and moreso young players, to add to the squad we got, because we had a lot of experienced players in the squad. We think (that) with the quality of the youngsters that we acquire, it would help us to play a more attractive brand of football, and you can expect to see a lot more quality in the final attacking third in the new season,” Coach Allen related.
“We even have a few players in the National Youth Programme that wasn’t here tonight either. So, I can’t even say we were full strength tonight,” he divulged.
According to the GFF, the 7th edition of the Elite League will kick off in March. As a result of this Ann’s Grove United win, Lake Mainstay Goldstar would be the only new team in this year’s competition.