Fruta Conquerors, Riddim Squad book semifinal spots
Limacol Football 2019…
Story and Photos by Jemima Holmes
The four-team line-up for the quarterfinal play of the 2019 Limacol Football Tournament was completed on Wednesday night when Riddim Squad and Fruta Conquerors FC Under-20 sealed crucial victories.
A glimpse of the encounter between Fruta Conquerors and Timehri Panthers
The last 2 games to determine the quarterfinalists were played at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue, and saw Riddim Squad taking on Mahaica Determinators in the first encounter while Fruta Conquerors battled Timehri Panthers in the second encounter.
The first encounter turned out to be an extra-long affair in which neither Riddim Squad nor Mahaica Determinators could find a goal to break the deadlock. Riddim Squad’s Kevin Gordon was the first to find the back of the net, in the 12th; but Eion Abel equalized for the East Coast outfit in the 23rd minute.
Mahaica Determinators and Riddim Squad fought to the death
Thereafter, the encounter remained at the 1-1 score, with both teams avidly hunting the winning goal. A few near misses later, regulation time expired and the game was plunged into extra time.
The added half-hour did not produce a winner, thus the resort was to a penalty shootout. With both sides consistently hitting the mark, the encounter moved to sudden death shots, where Riddim Squad prevailed to book their semifinal spot.
Riddim Squad’s Sherwin Oak spoke about the team’s performance and about their intentions for the upcoming semifinal.
“It was a hard game, as I said, but we came out on top. Yeah, we need to work more hard and come out and capitalize on our game,” Oak said.
In the second fixture, the Fruta Conquerors’ Under-20 team extended their unbeaten run in the 2019 edition of this tournament with another comprehensive win, this time over the Timehri Panthers.
Nicolas Mc Arthur continued in fine form as he netted another brace with goals in the 5th and 11th minutes. Mc Arthur had a handful more of tries, but the offside was often his enemy.
Timehri Panthers did well to hold off Fruta Conquerors’ quickfire scoring, but they could not contain Ryan Hackette in the second half, as he found the back of the net in the 75th.
Timehri’s consolation goal came in the 90th minute off the boots of Junior Adams. As such, the Under-20 outfit stormed into the semifinal with a 3-1 victory.
The semifinal games will be contested on Saturday October 5 at the same venue, where Fruta Conquerors will face off with Riddim Squad at 19:00hrs and Pele FC will take on Santos Under-20 at 21:00hrs.
