Guinness “Greatest of the Streets”: Georgetown leg set the tone – Baptiste

As Laing Avenue hoisted the championship trophy on Sunday night, the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Georgetown competition was deemed a success, with organisers now looking ahead to other sub-meets.
In a nail-biting series of street football games on Sunday last, proverbial underdogs Laing Avenue ousted the defending champions Gold is Money and went on to lift their first Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Georgetown title.
Laing Avenue edged Gold is Money 1-0 in the semi-final round and went on to prevail over North Ruimveldt 2-1 on sudden death penalty kicks in the much-anticipated final to cop the $800,000 grand prize.
In the aftermath, Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste labelled the tournament a success, notwithstanding some challenges faced.

“A very successful tournament, the teams came out to play. We had eight nights of exciting football, as you’ve just seen, Laing Avenue, they came out winners, toppling Gold is Money who won it for the last two years,” Baptiste shared.
He added, “All in all, successful tournament. We had some challenges, but we ended well and that’s the most important thing,”
Touching on why the Georgetown leg of the tournament was hosted first, Baptiste related that it set a positive tone for the nationwide sub-meets.
The Guinness Brand Manager related, “As you know Georgetown is our biggest sub-meet, so we really wanted to start with Georgetown to get that enthusiasm in, the excitement in and set the stage for the other sub-meets.”
“The other sub-meet is Essequibo; that’ll be a two-day tournament mid-April. So, we’re looking forward to another exciting tournament.”
With the action moving to Essequibo, a first in the tournament’s history, the Guinness Brand Manager divulged that preparations were already underway.
“We’ve already engaged the coordinator, we got our ads out, we have some clips from the Georgetown leg, spreading it in Essequibo so the players and the teams, the communities, can see what is it really to be part of the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets”, and we encourage them to come out and support their community,” Baptiste informed Guyana Times Sport.
While Laing Avenue walked away with the first prize and Most Valuable Player (MVP) spoils, second-place finishers North Ruimveldt carted off $400,000, while third and fourth place in Gold is Money and North East La Penitence pocketed $200,000 and $100,000 respectively.
The Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” street football tournament will be played in several sub-meets before all the winners converge for a national championship tournament.