MCYS/East Bank Inter-Village Football: Grove tackles Agricola; Herstelling battles Kuru Kururu in tonight’s semis

The battle lines have been drawn, and it’s all to play for when the semi-finals of the inaugural Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS)/East Bank Inter-Village Football Tournament are contested tonight (Thursday) at the Eccles EE Ground.
Organised by Sports Extra, this tournament has rekindled the competitive flame of football on the East Bank, with the final four now in the mix, having commenced with 12 villages. Grove, led by their Captain Domini Garnett, who has scored in all three of their matches so far and has six goals, the most by any player, will put all on the line when they face Agricola in Thursday’s first semi.

Grove has been clinical in their matches to date, defeating Circuitville (7–2), Upper Soesdyke (2–0), and Kaneville (3–0) and will be aiming to maintain this record against Agricola, which did not have such an easy time reaching this stage.
The Agricola lads suffered a 1–3 loss in their opening match at the hands of Kuru Kururu but rebounded to beat Mocha by a similar scoreline before moving on to win an epic clash against Swan in their quarterfinal, 5–3 in extra time.
The task at hand for both villages would be victory, which is the only pathway forward. Garnette will depend on the Padmore siblings, Kevin Jr and Devon, Rayfield Hilliman, Akeem Jarvis, and Jamal Cordis to secure a place in Saturday’s final.
Agricola’s charge for a similar result will centre around the likes of Shemar Sampson, Demanie Cort, Jamal Fiffe, Solomon Austin, Samuel Garnett, and Dennis Alexander, who have all registered goals for their village.
Thursday night’s feature game will see Kuru Kururu, boasting a record of three wins in as many matches, coming up against a determined Herstelling side. The Soesdyke-Linden Highway-based Kuru Kururu team has won against some of the more seasoned villages in Agricola, Mocha (2–1), and Upper Soesdyke by a similar score.
They’ll want to preserve this run and will depend on their most experienced player and leading scorer, Mervin “Munro” Joseph, who has scored a goal in each of their wins so far. He will hope to get support from Leroy Evans, Kevin Scott, and Seith Adams, among others.
Herstelling started their campaign on a high when they blanked Lower Soesdyke 2–0 but were jolted in their next game by Swan 1–4 before rebounding to upstage Timehri on Tuesday night 4–0 via kicks from the penalty mark after a 0–0 stalemate in regulation and extra time and will fancy their chances of booking a place in the final.
They have been putting in the work and have been seeing positive results. They’ll now have to step it up another notch in order to be in the final and will turn to their Captain Jonathan, Malcolm Hendricks, Johenni Mendoza, Candel Hazel, Jose Vasquez, Jesus Perez, Eleaezer Vandez and Andri Gomez to deliver another win and place in the championship match.
Fans are encouraged to come out and support their teams, as admission is free.
Organiser, Sports Extra, has expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS); Office of the Prime Minister; Ministry of Housing; National Sports Commission (NSC); Bounty Farm Ltd; Fitness Express; Star Rentals; Trophy Stall; NAMILCO; and Republic Bank for their partnership, which has made this tournament possible.