The inaugural Banks Beer Village Cup commenced on Tuesday evening at the Victoria Community Centre Ground with three exciting matches which saw Tigerbay, Mocha and Plaisance securing vital wins to progress to the quarter-finals.
(L-R) Banks DIH Brand Manager Errol Neslon, Organisers Esan Griffith and Dennis Reid along with Banks Communication Manager Troy Peters and Special Events Brand Manager Mortimer Stewart
Tigerbay’s 3-0 rout of Liliendaal came off the heels of marksmen Manasseh Primo (7th), Darien Dickson (18th) and Deon Alfred (29th).
Mocha edged East Ruimveldt 5-4 on sudden death penalty kicks after their match ended 1-1. Micheal Charkes had opened the scoring in the 17th but four minutes later Travis Blaze found the equalizer for East Ruimveldt.
More so, Plaisance whipped Sophia 3-0 with Vincent Thomas scoring a brace (17th & 79th) and received support from Akeem Thomas (4th).
Matches will continue this evening at the aforementioned venue with Pouderoyen in action against Kitty from 18:00h then Alexander Village battling Stewartville from 20:00h. The final match of the night pits Stabroek and Beterverwagting from 22:00h.
The marksmen from Tigerbay (left) and Sophia after their games on the opening night
Meanwhile, at a press briefing on Wednesday, the tournament’s title sponsor confirmed their partnership with the event. Communications Manager Troy Peters stated, “we are proud to be on board this venture and it aids us in helping football being played throughout Guyana and we look forward to an exciting tournament.”
Organiser, Esan Griffith expressed his gratitude for the support of the company and felt the tournament had a productive start and fans can be assured of more riveting action. Griffith also explained the idea behind the tournament was to bring football back to its grass roots and given community teams a chance to showcase their talents.
The tournament which will see the winning team going home with $800,000 at the grand final which is set for December 30. Apart from the winner’s purse, the second placed side will pocket $400,000 with $200,000 set to go the third placed team and $100,000 to the fourth placed finisher.
