Grove, Kuru Kururu collide in Saturday’s final; Herstelling, Agricola play for 3rd – MCYS/East Bank Inter-Village Football

The penultimate night of action in the inaugural Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS)/East Bank Inter-Village Football Tournament continued to serve up absorbing play with Kuru Kururu and Grove turning back the challenges of their opponents to contest the final on Saturday night at the Eccles EE Ground.
Both semi-finals were gruelling encounters, Kuru Kururu storming back from a goal down to beat Herstelling 3-1 via kicks from the penalty mark, while Grove needled Agricola in the opening game, which was affected by a power outage 15 minutes into the first half and lasted for about 40 minutes.

This delay resulted in Grove Captain Domini Garnett and Agricola Captain Solomon Austin agreeing to reduce the game to 70 minutes. It was soon after the resumption that Grove defender Trevor Jones found the space and range to slot one past Agricola’s custodian, Andel Mohanlall, and as it turned out, it was the golden goal in the 17th minute.
The exchanges between the two villages were end-to-end as Grove sought to defend their advantage and Agricola constantly went after the equalising goal. Agricola were able to smother the efforts of the tournament’s leading goal scorer, Domini Garnett (six goals), in their defensive third, but it did not matter for Garnett.
The night’s main attraction produced a humdinger of a clash as the lads from the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, like Grove, maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament with a come-from-behind win.
Herstelling took the lead in the 24th minute through a Jesus Perez goal and defended that lead up until the 65th minute when Kevin Scott scored his third goal of the tournament to restore parity to the game.

At the end of full time the score was locked at 1-1, and it remained the same after extra time was exhausted. Kicks from the penalty mark did not go well for Herstelling as they missed three of four opportunities. On the other hand, Kuru Kururu converted three of their five shots to book a date with Grove on Saturday night in the championship match.
At stake will be one million dollars for the winner, with the losing finalist receiving $500,000. The winner of the third-place clash between Agricola and Herstelling will earn $250,000 and fourth place, $150,000.
The MVP of the tournament will cash in on $100,000, with $80,000 each set aside for the Highest Goal-scorer and Best Goalkeeper.
The competition is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Housing, National Sports Commission, Bounty Farm Ltd, Fitness Express, Star Rentals, Trophy Stall, NAMILCO and Republic Bank.