The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Pele Football Club moved closer to  the final of the 14th Annual Digicel powered Mayor’s Cup competition when they crushed their opponents in the quarter-final matches at the Georgetown Football Club ground Sunday night.

In the curtain raiser of the double header GDF defeated Fruta Conquerors 4 – 3 on penalty kicks after the teams were deadlocked 2 – 2 at the end of regulation and extra time while Pele rallied to a 3 – 1 victory against Bakewell Buxton Stars.

The semi-final round which is scheduled for today at the same venue will see GDF and Pele meeting Alpha United and Sunburst Camptown respectively in a double header that commences at 6pm.

In the GDF/Conquerors’ encounter, the scoreline was upset as early as the sixth minute when Devon Ford scored the first of his double to give Fruta Conquerors a one nil lead at the half.

After the 15-minute break, Desford Williams, who received a cross inside the 18-yard box from the left flank, found the back of the net for the Army team in the 50th minute.

Clark, who was having problems with his positioning, misjudged the next ball fired from the boot of Ford who was storming down the right flank and watched as it sailed over his head and landed in the rear left end of the net giving Conquerors a 2-1 lead nine minutes after.

GDF found the equalizer in the 75th minute, following a penalty kick which they won after Keran Joseph was fouled by Fruta Conquerors’ Neville Stanton in the 18-yard box as he attempted a shot at goal and Selwyn Issacs beat Conquerors custodian Oswald Cornette to the right with a hard flat kick.

Of the five penalty kicks awarded after full and extra time, GDF scored their first four and missed the final one, while Conquerors scored the first two and their fourth but missed the third and final kick to give GDF the victory.

In the Pele/Buxton battle Buxton found themselves on the back foot as early as the fourth minute when Gerald Whittington intercepted a ball that was headed by a Buxton defender to their custodian.

The score line read 1 – 1 when Kwesi Williams recorded his team’s only goal of the match in the 49th minute.

Following a terrific pass from midfield, he thumped a high ball over the head of Pele’s custodian Shemroy Arthur who managed to get his fingertips to it, but not enough to make a save.

Marvin Joseph recorded a 71st minute goal for Pele to give them the 2 – 1 lead a few minutes before Buxton were forced to continue play with nine players as two of their players were given the red card in the 79th and 80th minutes.

It was evident after the two ejections, that the Buxton team no longer wanted to compete, but they finished the game even as Pele’s Travis Grant recorded his team’s third and final goal of the match, from the penalty spot.