Competitive football action returned to the East Bank corridor after a long hiatus when the inaugural East Bank Inter Village Competition kicked off at the Eccles EE Ground on Saturday evening following a colourful march-past of the competitors.
It was a history-making night on many fronts as it was also the first time that this ground hosted a competitive football match. This new facility has been developed under the Government of Guyana Ground Enhancement initiative and jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Apart from the march-past before the on-field action, there was the distribution of equipment by the National Sports Commission to each village, by Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy; Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle; Vice Chairperson of the National Sports Commission, Cristy Campbell and national footballer Jerome Harrigan. Housing Minister Collin Croal joined the others for the kick-off of the tournament’s first match.
The Linden-Soesdyke Highway-based Kuru Kururu suited up against one of the top villages – Agricola as group A play got underway. Teams are battling in a round-robin format with the top two from each of the four groups earning a place in the final eight when the knockout phase begins.
The highway boys came to the show to make their presence felt on a historic day and wanted to etch their name in the history books. They drew first blood 22 minutes into the opening half when Leroy Evans breached the Agricola defence and beat goalkeeper Christopher Adams.
The half ended with Kuru Kururu enjoying a slim lead and Agricola relishing the opportunity of levelling things up and even going ahead. In the 57th minute, Kuru Kururu doubled the advantage with a Kevin Scott strike.
Even though, Agricola halved the advantage when Shemar Sampson found the back of the net in the 61st minute, veteran forward Marvin “Munro” Joseph rolled back the years when he reestablished their two-goal cushion on the stroke of full time.
Agricola have now found themselves in a must-win situation when they come up against Mocha; defeat will see them exiting the competition.
The feature game of the night pitted a young Herstelling side against Lower Soesdyke. It was a very intense encounter as the Lower Soesdyke boys used their height advantage to good effect, but Herstelling never backed down.
