‘One Guyana’ President’s Cup football tournament: Grove-Diamond, West R/vldt- Albouystown draw first blood in Region 4

The Region 4 (Demerara–Mahaica) leg of the ‘One Guyana’ President’s Cup inter-ward football tournament got off to a scintillating start on Wednesday evening at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground at Bourda.
A double header on the cards saw Grove-Samatta Point-Diamond and West Ruimveldt-Albouystown proving themselves worthy of advancing to the next round following respective victories.

Grove-Samatta Point-Diamond, comprising players from those East Bank Demerara communities, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after they found themselves trailing 1-0 from the ninth to the 72nd minute of their match against Sophia.
Sophia took the lead early, after Tevin Browne expertly chipped the goalkeeper, and although the East Bank outfit looked more composed in the second segment, their advances were often thwarted. However, Devon Padmore eventually produced the equaliser for Grove-Samatta Point-Diamond.
In a bid to prevent the game from being decided by penalty kicks, both sides upped the ante, but the more experienced East Bank team prevailed under pressure when, in the 76th minute of the encounter, Sophia gave their opponents a penalty kick opportunity by way of a foul in the box. Lloyd Matthews made no mistake, pushing the score to 2-1 in favour of Grove-Samatta Point-Diamond.
The small but vibrant crowd that littered the GFC ground stuck around for the second fixture, which turned out to be a one-goal thriller.
As West Ruimveldt-Albouystown opposed Golden Grove-Melanie, there were near-misses galore as both sides struggled to finish. Golden Grove-Melanie did well to hold off West Ruimveldt’s continuous advances in the first half; but as had been the case in the first game of the night, experience came to the fore in the second half when West Ruimveldt’s Colin Nelson broke the ice in the 56th minute. Further pursuits of a goal proved futile for both sides, and the Georgetown team took the narrow 1-0 victory.
The Region 4 leg of the ‘One Guyana’ President’s Cup inter –ward tournament continues on Sunday, November 20, with a double header at the Guyana Football Federation’s National Training Center (NTC) at Providence, EBD.
The first match commences at 12.30h, and will see Highway challenging Alberttown-Bourda, while Top Zone comes up against South Ruimveldt-Tucville at 15:00h.
The ‘One Guyana’ President’s Cup is a collaborative effort between the Government of Guyana (GoG), the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), and the Kashif and Shanghai Organization.