Guyana, Galacticos De Roraima, T&T, Georgetown continue impressive run

GFF/ExxonMobil International Futsal Festival…

The GFF/ExxonMobil International Futsal Festival continued on December 28, 2018 at the Cliff Anderson Sport Hall on Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, as Guyana, Galacticos De Roraima, Trinidad and Tobago and Georgetown All Stars recorded victories once again on the second night.
In the headlined match for the evening, the Georgetown All Stars continued their impressive run in the tournament as they settled one of the most long-standing rivalries in football, crushing the Linden All Stars 7-0. The match was instant action from ball one as both teams played with vigor and nerves of steel as many opportunities were created for them to score early on in the match. But no one could stop the inform Ryan Hackett who has been known to tear apart defences in the early part of games; Hackett drew first blood two minutes into the game. But it wasn’t over as Kelvin Moore added his name to the tally in the third minute to take the score to 2-0, the Linden side looked flustered as they attempted resurgence but failed miserably as they allowed Adrian Aaron to score the third goal in the 12th minute of play. Playing and lacking defence, Linden All Stars started to play in a downward spiral as they knew early on they had already lost the game, allowing Ryan Hackett to score two more goals in the 17th and 22nd minute. Hubert Pedro and Stephen McLean to add two more goals in the 30th and 40th minute respectively to give the Georgetown side a convincing win to end the rivalry.
In the other matchup, the attacking Galacticos De Roraima following their 11-3 victory over the West Demerara All Stars on the first night of the tournament brushed aside the East Coast All Stars 6-3. Once again, Raphael Lopes struck in the 3rd minute of the game to give the Brazilian side a lead; three minutes later, Romailson De Jesus saw through the errors of the East Coast side to take the score to 2-0. In the 9th minute of the game, East Coast All Stars Alzaliel Davis provided some form of comfort as he capitalised on a mistake from the Brazilians. With the score at 2-1, Dwain Jacobs equalised in the 24th minute of the game to give East Coast a fighting chance in the competition. But all hopes were thrown through the window as no less than a minute later, De Jesus returned to give Roraima the lead 3-2. The torture was not over for the All Stars as the Brazilian side scored three more goals, with two coming from De Jesus in the 25th and 31st minute and Maxivon Carvalho ending the All Stars in the 39th minute.
Following two intense match fixtures, Trinidad and Tobago outclassed the out of form ZV All Stars of Suriname 5-1. The animosity could be sensed between both teams as one was hungry to win while the other needed a desperate win. After 13 minutes of play, Kareem Perry took the mantle upon himself as he scored goals in the 13th, 14th and 35th minute respectively, being given support by Jomel Williams in the 18th minute and Rondell Elexic in the 33rd minute. Trinidad went on to win easily despite the consolation goal in the 40th minute.
In the final showdown for the night, many gathered as they witnessed the highly anticipated matchup which saw the Guyana All Stars take on West Demerara in a one-sided affair, which saw Guyana win 5-2. The match started off in an emphatic manner as the All Stars made substitutions early on in the game to throw the West Demerara side off their game, by doing such it resulted in Sheldon Shepherd scoring the first goal in the 5th minute. Not finished with the West Demerara side Andrew Murray took the score to 2-0 in the 14th minute to leave their opponents feeling like fish out of water. West Demerara then changed their tactics as they looked to make a comeback in the early part of the game, as Dion Terrence scored the first goal in the 18th minute, six minutes later Trayon Bobb added his name to the tally as West Demerara did not intend to leave without a fight. But things took a turn for the worst as they slipped up and allowed Delroy Deen to sneak into their box in the 29th minute to take the score to 3-2. Needing only one more goal to equalise, West Demerara played lacklustre football as they gave away perfectly good opportunities and failing to convert passes into goals. This resulted in Solomon Austin adding the fourth goal in the 31st minute and Eusi Phillips with the fifth in the 37th minute to culminate the entire night of football.
The finals will be played today which will commence with the third place playoff at 22:00h and the grand finale at 23:00h. (Timothy Jaikarran)