Pouderoyen, Fruta Conquerors U-20 book semifinal spots

Turbo Knockout Football Tournament…

…Second set of quarterfinal games on tonight

Story and Photos by Jemima Holmes

Fruta Conquerors Under-20 FC and Pouderoyen FC are the first two teams to make it into the semifinal round of the third annual Turbo Knockout Football Tournament, following two nail-biting encounters at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue last Friday night.

Opposing the Buxton United Under-20 team in the first quarterfinal, Pouderoyen FC were made to work for their victory, with two extremely lucky goal-keepers facing from either side fired shots that went astray, thereby setting up a stalemate by the end of regulation time.
But what could hitherto have been considered a boring game quickly became interesting as Darrell Abrams beat the Buxton United Under-20 goalkeeper in the 98th minute.
The reply from Buxton’s Troni Semple came quickly and just in time. His careless shot at the goal somehow found the back of the net in the 106th minute because the Pouderoyen goalie was focused on anything but the incoming ball.
At the penalty mark, both sides connected their initial five tries, plunging the game into sudden-death kicks. At that stage, the Pouderoyen goalie executed his best save of the night to hand his team the win.

With the memory of their last encounter fresh in their minds, Buxton Stars challenged Fruta Conquerors Under-20 from the get-go, and were successful with their defense until Nicholas Mc Arthur weaved his way from the left wing to get a clear shot in front of the goal in the 21st minute.
While Fruta continued to press, Buxton Stars resisted well, and managed to pass the first half without another goal being scored.
Ryan Hackett opened the second on a high note for Fruta with a goal in the 46th minute, but Fruta let the game slip away briefly after their goalkeeper, Joel Yhap, gave away an own goal in the 63rd minute, and Buxton’s Shemar Scott made it a 2-2 game in the 71st.
With the possibility of an unlikely win within arm’s reach of Buxton Stars, the East Coast outfit switched on their aggression, and the hunt for the winning goal turned up the intensity of the encounter for both sides, and made it even more frustrating for both sides, as each team’s shots at the goal went off-target.
Osafo Simpson was the hero for Fruta, as he found the back of the net two minutes before the end of regulation time for their 3-2 victory.
Action in the Turbo Knockout competition will continue tonight at the same venue, where Riddim Squad will spar with defending champions Northern Rangers at 19:00hrs, and Santos Under-20 will lock horns with GFC at 21:00hrs.
The first game of the night is expected to be a very interesting one, as it causes a collision of the experience of Northern Rangers with the aggression of Riddim Squad.
The Northern Rangers camp have already made it clear that they intend to secure back-to-back championship titles; and have even fought to add some weight to their words in their first game of the tournament, when they pulled off a 6-5 win.
However, Riddim Squad’s fight-to-the-death attitude will surely challenge the defending champions and make for a feisty game.
The Georgetown Football Club (GFC) have a strong youth component that might be able to test the Santos Under-20 outfit. However, in their past few tournaments, the GFC have been unable to make it out of the shaky rounds, falling short by a small margin.
The Santos U20 are reportedly confident in their abilities, and judging by their last 8-0 victory, the youngsters are out for blood. However, they will first need to overcome the mixture of youth and experience that the GFC are bringing to the table.
The eventual winners of the Guyana Beverage Inc-sponsored, Petra-organized tournament would walk away with a grand prize of $400,000, while second place settles for $200,000. Third and fourth places will pocket $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.