Come January 1, Fruta Conquerors and the Guyana Defence Force FC will lock horns in an exhilarating battle for a 2-million-dollar prize in the final of the GFF Super 16 Cup.
Following Den Amstel’s elimination in the quarterfinal, it became public knowledge that the new championship spot was now opened to whichever team wanted it. With this in mind, Fruta Conquerors, Santos, GDF FC and the Guyana Police Force FC got down to business on Sunday evening in the semifinal of the Guyana Football Federation’s Super 16 Cup.
In the first encounter of the night, 2019 Elite League Champions Fruta Conquerors got an early lead when they took on Santos FC. Forward Delon Lanferman beat the Santos goalkeeper Alex Murray in the 11th for the game’s first goal.
Thereafter, the remainder of the half went quietly but not without brief moments of thrill as shots at the goal went astray. A determined Santos sought to level the scores and did so through a 58th minute goal, off the boots of Orin Yarde.
With the scores tied up, both sides fought to find winning goal before regulation time expired. Fruta Conquerors did not look themselves as they missed the nets completely on a handful of tries.
A glimpse of the battle between Fruta Conquerors and Santos
Ryan Hackett finally hit the nail on the head four minutes into extra time, booking Fruta Conqueror’s ticket to the final.
Captain Vurlon Mills explained how important the victory was to the team.
“In a semifinal, a win is always important. From the time the tournament started for us, we took it as a serious game because we know once we lose we’re out of the tournament. My players today, we came together, we played as team, and that was most important to our victory tonight,” Mills stated.
In his post- match remarks, Mills was keen to praise Santos for their valiant effort in the nail-biting match.
The Guyana Defense Force outfit
“I think Santos came out and they did a fairly okay job, they did well but we managed to come out on top,” he explained.
Addressing the emotions in the Fruta Conquerors team, following Santos’ 58th minute equalizer, Mills explained that it gave the team an incentive to work harder.
“I didn’t expect the game to go into extra time, but for me that motivated me. I saw more energy from my teammates when they equalized and that gave me the drive to keep pushing and get more goals. I think my team created a lot of chances to score back but it was just for that final moment to put it behind the net.”
It was a law enforcement battle in the second semifinal as the nation’s two armed forces clashed for the second spot in the final. The highly aggressive encounter saw its first bit of excitement when Delroy Fraser found the back of the net in the 25th for GDF’s first goal.
Parnell Schultz even things up just before the half for Police, to set up an interesting second.
There the Policemen came out blazing with a goal off the boots of Schultz in the 50th, to take the lead.
With the end of regulation time nearing, the Policemen felt as though they had the game in the bag but the army men had more in store for them.
Travis Henry, Delwin Fraser and Sherwin Ceasar netted back to back goals in the 82nd, 85th and 90+1 as the military team stamped their authority.
The MACORP, BACIF, Pegasus Hotel, Marics and Company, Hits and Jams, THAG, NAMILCO and Impressions sponsored tournament will conclude on January 1st at the Georgetown Football Club ground, Bourda. While GDF faces off with Fruta Conquerors for the 2-million-dollar first prize, Santos will take on Police FC for the third position.
