New champions were crowned as the curtains came down on the New Era Cell Smart Mohamed’s Enterprise Futsal tournament on the McKenzie Sports Club Hard Court on Boxing night.
Magic Stars’ Captain Jermaine Grandison (green shirt) receives his second place prizeClarence “Shark” Huggins (striped shirt) receives his Most Goals Prize
Following the semifinal action on Friday, crowd favourites, Hustlers booked their finals berth with defending champions, Magic Stars and together they gave fans more than their money’s worth. On the damp closing night, both the final and third place play-off games entered extra time, emulating the high profile competition the tournament has produced over the past weeks.
In the finals, Hustlers drew first blood which brought the capacity crowd into an uproar with Jermain “Brown Boy” Scotland rocketing the first goal past the Magic Stars’ goal keeper in the game’s opening minute which set the pace for the rest of the game.
“Brown Boy” returned to work his way past the entire Magic Stars’ defense line two minutes later. By the fourth minute, Magic Stars were facing down the barrel with a 3-0 deficit with Sean Brewley registered his first for the night. But veteran Kennard Tyrill was not going to let his team head down the same direction as they did in the first half of their semi final contest as he produced an excellent left footer that caught the Hustler’s goal keeper slumbering in the 5th. Rawl Gittens would equalize the game with back to back goals in the 8th and 9th while Keon Sears brought the crowd to the edge of their seats with a goal in 10th that sent the defending champs into the lead.
Steffon Tappin extended the lead in the 12th with a beauty from the half way line as the two Hustlers’ defenders were drawn out strategically by some entertaining one touch passes. One of the leading goal scorers of the competition, Donovan Francis ensured Hustlers did not slip too far behind, squeezing his side’s 4th goal in the 14th minute followed by the equalizer in the 17th. However, Joel McKinnon closed off the first half with the defending champions looking as if they were going to make it consecutive titles with the sixth goal in the 19th, ending the first half on 6-5.
In the second half of the finals, the weather which had held up for most off the night seemed to have the intention of dampening the spirits of the hundreds of futsal lovers in Linden but no one moved as they braved the drizzles and afterwards, heavy showers as the game continued.
“Brown Boy” was determined to lead his men to the title with two more goals in quick succession (22nd and 26th) while Jermain Grandison got into the action scoring twice as well (31st and 34th) before Deon “Crab” Charter ensured the game would go into extra time when he equalized with the 8th goal for Hustlers in the 39’ which sent the MSC tarmac into an uproar. And Hustlers had lost the grip on a game they should have won a long time ago.
In extra time, the two halves of five minutes could not separate the teams as thy both sent in three goals each ending playing time 11-11 and the championship had to be decided from the penalty spot. “Brown Boy”, Francis and Charter scored in the 43rd, 44th and 49th respectively for Hustlers while Tyrill (41st and 46th) and Sears (50th) were the scorers for the defending champions, sending the game into a penalty shootout.
Grandison took to the spot for the first shot and missed the entire goal as Magic Stars supporters could see the title slipping out of their grip, however, the smiles soon returned when “Brown Boy” missed as well. It was Francis, Brewley and Kwame Holder to secure the three penalties which saw Hustlers lifting the title and gyrating to Dwayne Bravo’s song ‘Champion.’
After the competition, “Brown Boy” was adjudged the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) collecting a pair of turf sneakers for his efforts. Hustlers, who are sponsored by Dave and Celena’s Furniture Store won the $400,000 cash prize while last year’s winners Magic Stars had to settle for the $150,000 second place prize.
Meanwhile, in the third place playoffs, the competitive nature of the matches were as high as ever as that game too, entered extra time but a “Shark-attack” brought down the Empire.
Colwyn Drakes, the man in form scored seven of Empire’s eight goals as the team was missing the core of their team. Drakes had put Empire on the scoreboard in the second minute as Good Fellas seemed to have come out with the wrong footwear, missing a number of shots they would usually take with their eyes closed. Mark McLean found the equalizer in the 8th, however, Drakes would score again in the 9th and 10th to put his side 3-1 before Deshawn Joseph, already with 10 goals in the tournament sent one whistling past the Empire goal keeper two minutes later while Clarence “Shark” Huggins opened his account in the 14th. Drakes scored his fourth of the night in the 17th while Trenton Lashley ended the first half with the fifth goal for Empire in the 19th as the contest stood 5-3.
The interval seemed to have worked for Good fellas who found their footing as “Shark” took control of the contest, capitalizing on a lazy pass to shake the back of the net in the 22nd. Drakes would then short live the celebrations as he looked to single handedly carry Empire on his shoulders to the third place prize, scoring back to back goals in the 26th and 27th, denting the hopes of Good Fellas who seemed to have been unsettled.
Huggins, on the other hand looked to be on a next level as he sneaked under the radar of the Empire’s defence, stealing a goal in the 31st to set the score 7-5. Drakes will then score his seventh goal of the night in the 38’ which looked like Empire would cruise to the victory 8-5. But Joseph and Omeion Wills scored three inside the last minute of play to stun Empire and propel the match into extra time.
In extra time, it was Huggins who was the star of the show with four goals (41st, 42nd, 46th and 48th), Joseph (41st) and Wills (46th) with one more goal each that sealed the match 14-8 as Empire crumbled under the pressure of a 50-minute game.
Huggins was awarded the prize for scoring the most goals in the tournament and collected $20,000 and a trophy while his side earned the third place prize of $75,000.
Huggins, who was the MVP last year said “it was a privilege to come and perform for his home team and actually lead them this far, though it was disappointing to not make it to the finals, it was a good experience and next year we are definitely coming for the title.”
Speaking on behalf of the organizers, New Era Entertainment directors, Kenrick Noel, Andrew Major and Shareef Major all extended thanks to the sponsors of the tournament, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Cell Smart, Bakewell, Ansa McAl under the Mackeson brand, Bumper to Bumper Services, Dave and Celena’s, Sankars Auto Works, Tony’s Auto Spares and the fans who turned out in their numbers.
