GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power U-17 League, EBFA Leg
Herstelling Raiders recorded their second draw in as many matches when they were held by Mocha Champs to a 2-all draw as play in the East Bank Demerara Football Association leg of the GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power U-17 League continued on Sunday morning.
Diamond United’s Shaquan Joseph
That was the lone match played at the GFF Facility at Providence, EBD.
Mocha took the lead in the 11th minute when Yohance Porter scored the first of his double to put Herstelling on the back foot, but just before the halfway mark, Daniel Lowe levelled the score with the first of his brace coming in the 34th minute.
Five minutes into the second half, Lowe again troubled the goal when he converted a pass to hand Herstelling the lead in the 40th minute. But as the minutes diminished and fulltime drew near, Porter ensured that Mocha left the pitch with an equal share of the points, because he rocked the net in the 66th minute.
When Herstelling had faced Diamond United on July 1st at the same venue, a similar situation had occurred, in that Diamond United had scored in the closing minutes of the match to deny Herstelling full points.
That match was a 4-4 humdinger between two young sides. Ronald Mohamed had handed Herstelling the lead in the 9th minute, but Diamond United had equalised in the 16th minute when Carlos Wilkie found the back of the net.
Three minutes later, 12-year-old Shaquan Joseph had sent Diamond into the lead when he scored the first of his two goals in the 19th minute; but it became a 2-2 game in the 24th minute when Xavi Atkinson scored as the game was just about heating up.
Ronald Mohamed found the back of the net for Herstelling in the 27th minute, to hand his team the lead again; but it soon became even-stevens when Ronaldo Adams worked his way past the Herstelling defense to tuck his shot past the goal-keeper and make the score 3-3.
Shoran James placed Herstelling back into the lead for the third time in the match when he converted in the 42nd, but Diamond fired back in the 59th minute, thanks to another Shaquan Joseph goal. Thus each team had walked away with one point each from the encounter.
Meanwhile, given the prolonged rainy season which has rendered grounds unplayable and the fact that the GFF all-weather facility is the only one in use for national and regional member associations, the EBFA is exploring the possibility of playing matches at the Timehri Red Ground.
