Players from communities in Georgetown and West Demerara will be in action on Wednesday, November 16, as the Inter-Ward faction of the inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup football tournament continues.
The tournament, in which a knockout format is implemented, kicked off last Sunday. It is the brainchild of President Irfaan Ali, and is being coordinated by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
At the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, from 18:00 hrs, South/North Sophia will come up against the combined communities of Grove, Samatta Point and Diamond.
In the night’s second match, at 20:00 hrs, Albouystown/ West Ruimveldt are set to collide with an East Coast Demerara combined Melanie/ Golden Grove unit.
Meanwhile, only one match is scheduled for the West Demerara zone, where Bell West and Parika are down to play at 19:00hrs at the Leonora-based National Track and Field Centre. The winner of that game will play Den Amstel on Sunday.
The tournament’s opening day saw matches played in Regions 2, 5, 6 and 10.
REGION 10
In Linden, at the Wisburg Secondary School ground, Blueberry Hill became the first team to exit the tournament, thanks to Block 22, to whom they lost 3-4 on kicks from the penalty mark. The two sides had ended regulation time at 1–1.
REGION 6
The Scots School Ground in New Amsterdam hosted an exciting double-header, in which both games went beyond regular time.
Lower Corentyne needed kicks from the penalty mark to separate themselves from Central New Amsterdam. With scores tied at one goal each at the end of regulation time, Lower Corentyne prevailed 5-4 when they went down to the deciding format.
North New Amsterdam and Canje had an entertaining encounter, as both teams netted four times to force a nail-biting climax. From the penalty mark, North New Amsterdam advanced 4-2.
REGION 5
Rosignol and Paradise took care of business at the Rosignol Community Centre Ground to advance to the next round of competition.
Paradise had the better of Number 28 Village 4-0, and Rosignol sent Monedderlust marching from the penalty spot.
REGION 2
At the Ann Regina Multilateral School Ground in Region 2, Queenstown hammered Suddie 7–0, thanks to a hat-trick from Avinash Ramanan.
Ramanan netted his goals in the 60th, 63rd and 85th minutes for Queenstown, which also had goals coming from Mario Walcott (40’, 42’), Rodley Carter (75’) and James (89’) to advance.
The one-of-a-kind tournament will feature two stages. First, 16 inter-ward teams in each administrative region of Guyana will compete for top honours.
The second stage will see a 25-man squad comprising the best players of each of the 10 Regions selected for a grand battle to decide the victors of the One Guyana President’s Cup on January 1, 2023.
