Curt Murphy and Royston Fraser proved to all and sundry that they are head and shoulders above the rest when they slammed home three goals apiece to propel their team Topp XX and Blue Berry Hill to the top two positions on the points standings when action in the Upper Demerara Football Association competition continued Wednesday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground.
In the opening match of the night’s doubleheader, Blue Berry Hill continued to provide the upsets in this competition which is being sponsored by beverage giant Banks DIH Limited through its Coca Cola brand products with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Silver Shattas while Topp XX took care of Eagles United 4-0 in the feature match.
It was a see-saw affair with the scoring of goals in the first game, for when Ray Bobb Semple sent Blue Berry Hill into the lead in the 12th minute, Ronel Bristol wasted no time in finding the back of the net in the 24th minute to equalize for Silver Shattas.
Fraser then got into the goal scoring habit when he secured his first of three, three minutes after Bristol equalized for the Shattas team. Jermaine Mc Bean then equalized for Silver Shattas when he found the back of the net in the 60th minute, only to see Fraser ensuring that Blue Berry Hill regain the initiative with an 80th minute strike.
The final 10 minutes of this encounter was a tense one as both teams sought to outplay each other in search of a lead for one team and an equalizer for another.
But it was Silver Shattas who found the back of the net, courtesy of an Alister Johnson strike in the 89th minute, but their celebration was short-lived as Fraser found the back of the net with a thriller following the kick off which ensured that Blue Berry Hill would occupy the second position on 9 points, one behind Topp XX who is leading with 10.
In the feature game, Eagles United who is yet to find a way to score a point in this competition, will have a longer wait to do so as Topp XX ensured that they not only remained pointless, but also denied them the opportunity of finding the back of the net.
Murphy who entered this game with four goals added three more to his personal tally to be the leading goal scorer in the competition.
He first opened his account in the 13th minute and added another five minutes later as Topp XX went into the break sitting comfortably on a 2-nil lead.
In the second half, Murphy again was in a goal-scoring mood when he rocked the net in the 59th minute to complete his hat trick and when Shevon Seaforth scored in the 70th minute, it was all over bar the shouting for Eagles.
The competition will continue this evening with another double header at the same venue. From 18:00hrs, Amelia’s Ward United who has four points will be looking to add to that when they face Netrockers who is on two points.
In the feature game, Milerock (6 points) will be looking to join Blue Berry Hill on 9 points in the second position when they face Winners Connection who has 4 points and is aware of the fact that a win could propel them to 7 points and third position.
Meanwhile, secretary of the UDFA Rawle Blair told Stabroek Sport that the Futsal competition that is jointly organized by Topp XX in collaboration with Entertainment Source has not been sanctioned by the UDFA as the organizers did not meet the criteria set out by the UDFA.
“They were certain requirements we asked of them and to date they have failed to meet same. The most important one is the lodging of the first place prize which they claimed is being sponsored by Banks DIH Limited.“
He further stated via telephone,”We decided upon having a letter on file from the beverage giants, stating their intentions to sponsor same, but even that they cannot lodge with us.
Apart from that, they were to ensure that medical and security personnel were on hand at every game and to date, even this has not been assured by the organizers thus leaving the UDFA no choice but not to sanction the event.”
Efforts by Stabroek Sport to contact the organizer proved futile.
