Next weekend’s Limacol Football final will be a ‘battle of the best youths’, since the Fruta Conquerors FC Under-20 team and their Santos FC counterparts have both romped to nail-biting victories over determined opponents in Saturday night’s semifinal matches played at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue.
Fruta Conquerors worked hard to triumph from a frustrating position
The scripts for both those games were identical, as each encounter ran a full course, including extra time and penalties. However, despite their length, enthusiastic football fans enjoyed the keen rivalry that each game highlighted.
The first semifinal was contested by Fruta Conquerors FC Under-20 and Riddim Squad, respectively hailing from Tucville in Georgetown and Mocha, East Bank Demerara.
Contrasting in their styles, the teams each brought a different approach to the crucial encounter, and this made for an intriguing game from the spectators’ point of view.
The Fruta Conquerors’ youths brought youthful zest and ‘knock-ball’ tactics to the game, while the highly experienced Riddim Squad played a more aggressive game that was focused on defense.
Over time, Riddim Squad’s strong defenses frustrated the younger Fruta Conquerors team, especially in absence of the latter’s ‘on-point’ forward, Nicholas Mc Arthur.
Santos FC and Pele FC had a hard-fought battle
And to compound their frustrations, Orville Stewart of the Under-20 team netted a goal for Riddim Squad, to give them the lead in the 27th minute.
The combination of negative forces oppressed the Under-20 outfit for most of the game, and they were often overcome by frustration when in front of the goal; but breakthrough finally came in the second half of the game, when stand-in captain Ryan Hackette was fouled in the box. The penalty kick taken by Jermaine Garrette was unerring, as it tucked the ball into the corner of the goal in the 76th minute, to afford that team the much-needed equalizer.
Re-energised, this young team fought back to keep the scores level; then one of Riddim Squad’s most prolific defense players picked up a red card, making the remainder of extra time much easier for the Fruta youths.
Both regulation and extra time elapsed without another goal being scored by either side, opening the came for a penalty shootout in order to determine a winner.
Joel Yhap was superb in the nets for Fruta Conquerors, conceding only one penalty. The same could not be said for Riddim Squad’s keeper, as he let four through for a Fruta Conquerors’ victory.
The second semifinal ran an almost identical course to the preceding match, as a 1-1 score plunged the game into extra time and penalty shootout.
The agile youths of the Under-20 Santos FC team — possessed of a knack for success, especially after winning the KFC Under-20 Independence Cup earlier this year — faced a revamped Pele FC team which had a similar component of youths, whose agility was augmented by experienced players.
The high-paced encounter saw each side hunting the early advantage, and the first goal came in the 10th minute, after Pele were awarded a penalty kick that was expertly taken by Mark Jhalu.
But Pele did not trenchantly protect their advantage, and with the passage of time, they made the same mistake their opponents had made: fouling a (Santos) player in the box. The penalty was expertly struck by Rondel Peters in the 42nd minute, to level the scores.
Pele FC had another chance to extend their lead, in the form of a penalty kick, but this opportunity was foolishly squandered. Then frustration got the better of that blue-and-yellow-clad team, and they began to let Santos through their defense.
The end of regulation time saved the Pele squad from an impending onslaught, and extra time did not prove fruitful for the Santos side; but in the penalty shootout, Santos Under-20 emerged the better team, having connected one more than Pele’s three goals for the win.
The finale between Santos FC and Fruta Conquerors FC — both under-20 teams — will be contested on Sunday, October 13th, at the same venue; and the third-place playoff between Pele FC and Riddim Squad will be contested on that same night.
Either Fruta Conquerors FC or Santos FC will emerge winners of this Limacol Football tournament and walk away with $400,000, while the second-placed team will have to settle for $200,000. Third- and fourth-placed teams would respectively receive $100,000 and $50,000.
Sponsored by New GPC under their Limacol brand, this tournament is also supported by WJ Enterprise, sole distributors of Croxley paper and other stationery.
