Santos, Dynamic upset opponents to book final spots

KFC Independence Cup

It was a day of upsets at the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) National Training Centre at Providence as the semifinal of the KFC Under 20 ‘Independence Cup’ tournament was contested.

When the dust settled on the synthetic Astro turf surface on Saturday evening, two unlikely teams were the ones to overcome their opponents; and as such, they booked their spots in Monday’s final showdown.
The first of the two semifinals saw Botofago FC out of Linden taking on the fairly new Dynamic FC, hailing from the Demerara East Coast. The experienced Botofago FC drew first blood — in the 24th minute, compliments of Shane Haynes — to take the advantage. However, a valiant fight back from Maurice Adams resulted in the scores being levelled in the 33rd.

Jjust before the half was called, Julius Hamilton found the back of the net, to give Dynamic FC the lead going into the latter half of the game. There, Maurice Adams netted his second goal of the game in the 60th, to extend the lead to 3-1.
However, one of Botofago’s most trusted strikers, Andre Mayers, scored a goal of his own to give the Lindeners a glimmer of hope. But a win for Linden was not to be, as John Gonsalves made the task even harder with Dynamic’s fourth goal in the final minutes of the game.
Two Georgetown teams were slated to face each other in the second semifinal, which looked like a remake of the Georgetown Inter-Association final. However, the script was written differently this time around, as Santos FC defeated their longtime rivals, Fruta Conquerors FC.
When the two had met in the Georgetown final, Fruta Conquerors had easily dispatched their rivals. However, Santos came to the semifinal with a plan that involved a bit of revenge.
Donned in white, Santos were able to hold off the Fruta Conquerors’ strikers in the first 45 minutes, thus frustrating not only the playing XI, but the coaching staff as well. Santos were able to hold up their excellent plays in the second half, and just when it looked like the encounter would go to extra time, they were rewarded with a goal off the boots of Stephen Reynolds in the 80th.
Reynolds was not done; he returned in the 88th to net another goal, adding salt to the wounds of Fruta Conquerors.
Come Monday, July 1, Dynamic FC will battle with Santos FC for a chance to grab a $500,000 grand prize and bragging rights of being the best Under 20 team in the country. The second place team will be rewarded with $300,000.
Meanwhile, after the third place playoff between Fruta Conquerors and Botofago FC, the winner will pocket $200,000. The entire top four will receive medals and trophies.