Rupununi FA male and female senior leagues 2022: Paiwomak and FC Basin male teams into North Rupununi quarterfinals

…Titans male and female teams edge closer

Paiwomak FC and FC Basin male teams are safely into the quarterfinals of the 2022 Rupununi Football Association (RFA) senior league, as action in the penultimate round of the North Rupununi leg continued on Saturday last at the Annai Sports Ground.

At the end of four rounds, Paiwomak head the standings in Group A with 10 points despite a 0-0 draw against a determined Challengers outfit. In a fast-paced game with few clear chances, Challengers and Paiwomak battled valiantly for 90 minutes, and a draw was quite likely a fair result for both teams.
Challengers will now come up against Surama in the final match of Group A, which will be played this Saturday. Either team still have a chance of qualification with a victory.
In the females’ encounter, defending champions Paiwomak limped to another draw against a youthful Challengers team. The 0-0 result means that with three draws and a win from four games, Paiwomak have only six points, and can be overtaken if Challengers, with five points, win their game in hand on Saturday against Surama.
In Group B, FC Basin males and Strikers FC females are comfortably into the quarterfinals. Falcon males must win or draw their last match against FC Basin on Sunday to go through to the North Rupununi playoffs. A defeat for the Falcons would mean that Strikers go through on goal difference.
In East Central, Group A Galaxy Warriors female team lost by a 1-4 margin to Flash FC, which have now moved to the top of the points’ standings with 11.
Juliet Roberts opened the scoring for Flash FC in the 30th minute, and strikes from Odessa Dorrick in the 37th minute, Merriza Augustine in the 59th minute, and Shonnate Thomas in the 62nd minute saw Flash winning comfortably.
Latoya Dorrick scored a consolation goal for Galaxy Warriors in the 43rd minute.
In the male game, Galaxy United and Flash FC battled to a 3-3 stalemate. Felix John netted all three goals (30th, 35th, 89th) for Galaxy Warriors, but goals from Leyland Roberts in the 13th minute, and a double from Kim Dorrick (35th, 70th) ensured that the points were shared.
At the Far East Ground in Central Rupununi, Tabatinga’s male team recorded a 5-0 win over Far East United to move to 19 points and remain in the second position on the points table. Emerick Williams (2nd, 75th) and Carlos Isaacs (10th, 38th) got on to the score sheet with a brace each, while Ricardo Martin rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute.
Over at Gladiators Ground, Shenika Xavier opened the scoring for Snatchers FC in the 15th minute in their female match, but Eleni Araujo equalised for Gladiators FC in the 55th minute, and the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
Gladiators FC have moved to the top of the female points standings with 17, but can be overtaken by Guyana Rush Saints who have a game in hand and are on 16 points.
In the male match, an Orlando Francis strike in the 42nd minute, followed by an Antonio Dutra strike in the 80th minute, was enough for Gladiators FC to take care of business against Snatchers FC by a 2-0 margin, to hold down the third position with 15 points.
At Aishalton Ground in Deep South Rupununi, Titans United male and female teams comfortably defeated Potarinau Sky Kings female team 3-1 and Shirriri FC male team 6-1 in the first leg of the South Central/Deep South Rupununi playoffs.
Pauline Ambrose of Potarinau Sky Kings opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, but a strong second half by the home team saw Faustina Ernest with a goal in the 56th minute, Melessa McCracken doing likewise in the 71st minute, and Vanytta DaSilva following suit in the 79th minute, complete what was eventually a comfortable victory for Titans.
In the male match, Ben Realine netted a helmet-trick for Titans United with goals in the 5th, 19th, 32nd and 49th minutes, while Raphael James netted a double through strikes in the 43rd and 64th minutes. Simon Peter netted the consolation goal for Shirriri FC in the 68th minute.
Shirriri and Potarinau Sky Kings FC now have substantial deficits to overturn if they would have any hope of qualifying for the quarterfinals when the return legs are played on July 16th, next.