Old Fort pulled off the first upset victory of the competition in their opener on Saturday against defending champs the Sequel. The pace of the youthful Old Fort gave the aging Sequel no end of trouble in the first half of the match which resulted in Old Fort scoring four unanswered goals.
The Sequel’s Alan Fernandes on counterattack being challenged by Omar Hopkinson
Young striker Warren Williams scored the opener for Old Fort just two minutes in, as a long pass beat the Sequel deep defence and gifted Williams an easy one on one with goalkeeper Dwayne Scott. Old Fort’s most prolific midfielder, junior national Omar Hopkinson added a second six minutes later en route to a first half hattrick with two more goals in the 15th and 16th minutes.
With the Sequel facing a 0-4 deficit at the half, Scott opted to remove his goalkeeping gear and play as a kicking back. The tactic proved to be on the money as the Sequel turned the game on its head by denying any further goals while producing two of their own. It was overlapping right back, Damon Woodroffe, who opened the GCC account with a well-placed strike to the far post three minutes into the second half and striker Devin Hooper added a second 9 minutes later.
Hikers Cadet defender Tivesard Garnett tries to escape from Saints goal scorer Edmund Chinian
While the Sequel certainly had their chances, Jason Clarke in deep defence for Old Fort put in a sterling performance to thwart several raids on goal. The 4-2 victory immediately sets eyes on Old Fort as the team to beat in this year’s competition.
In the other men’s second division clash, Saints u19s pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory over the Hikers Cadets with midfielder Edmund Chinian scoring the lone goal of the match just before halftime.
The youthful Saints side were relentless in pursuit of the ball and despite Hikers being the more experienced side, they found it difficult to make meaningful attacks.
