KFC Elite League: Anticipated GDF-Slingerz clash ends in stalemate

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Football Club and Slingerz FC, after an intense battle on Saturday night, have both remained unbeaten in the ongoing KFC Elite League Season Six, as there was no separation between the two ‘big clubs’ after a stalemate result.
The clash went down at the Guyana Football Federation’s National Training Center (NTC), Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD), witnessed by hundreds of spectators, who braved the intermittent rains.
The defending champions, GDF, looked to be the more technical of the two teams; however, this separation in their styles on Saturday night could also be chalked up to the absence of Slingerz Head Coach Alex Thomas, who was issued a red card during the club’s encounter with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) FC a week prior.
In spite of their missing piece, Slingerz FC’s defence managed to stand up to the test of GDF. Abumuchi Benjamin was a menace to GDF’s defence on the wing, often meeting in one-on-one battles with Leo Lovell. While Benjamin was good enough to win a number of those battles, his passing was off and as such, a number of his crosses into the box bore no fruit.

Jeremy Garrett and Quincy Adams were formidable at the back for Slingerz, thwarting a number of GDF advances. In the midfield, Slingerz’s Job Caesar was often outsmarted by his equal Kelsey Benjamin, who in turn created a number of opportunities for the defending champions. However, a number of Benjamin’s advances were eventually gobbled up by Slingerz’ keeper, Akel Clarke.
One Slingerz player who found success in the midfield area was Darron Niles, who was visibly given the assignment of marking GDF’s power midfielder Ryan Hackett. Though smaller in stature compared to his mark, Niles was able to shut down Hackett on a number of occasions and coupled with Hackett’s seeming inability to get it right, GDF were even more unable to convert their chances.
Another player who looked like a shell of themselves on Saturday night was Slingerz’ forward Marcus Tudor, who had to fend off the likes of experienced Colin Nelson and Amos Ramsey to even attempt a break through.
All in all, the defensive lines on both ends of the pitch were virtually impenetrable and even when the shot got through, it was the goalkeeper’s skills, off-side calls or sheer luck that kept the score at 0-0 for the regulation 90 minutes and 5 minutes of added time.
In the other fixture on Saturday night, Santos FC pulled off an astonishing 3-2 victory over Western Tigers FC. Randy Roberts opened the scoring for Santos in the 6th minute, after which Randolph Wagner levelled the scores in the 23rd minute.
Roberts later put Santos ahead again in the 51st, but Wagner pulled Western Tigers level again in the 74th minute. Santos’ Stefan Reynolds ended the see-saw once and for all in the 90th+4, capitalising on a loose ball that the Western keeper failed to hold on to.
The KFC Elite League will continue tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7 with a clash between Western Tigers FC and Den Amstel FC at 19:00h, which will mark the conclusion of the first Round of Season Six.
The League will, thereafter, take a short break and resume on Saturday, May 18.