Pele and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) under-21 squads overpowered their opponents in the quarterfinals of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Milo sponsored tournament at the Camptown ground last Saturday, to cement their place in the semi-final round.
Pele who were led by a hat trick from Sheldon Holder and a double from Rensford Coolridge, rocketed 11 goals in a flash while Uprising could only managed two in the feature match of the double header which saw GDF defeating Riddim Squad 4 – 3 on penalties.
The game got moving when Uprising drew first blood after only 18 minutes of play, courtesy of a John Fraser strike but a well composed Pele did not stay behind for long and equalized four minutes later compliments of an Okenny Fraser strike.
Uprising’s defensive line soon showed large openings which the Pele forwards took full advantage of and numerous challenges developed with Uprising’s custodian Jelani Hazen.
Pele won most of these challenges and Coolridge sparked the exploitation of the spaces and recorded his double as early as the 24th minute.
Holder then made his presence felt in the 28th minute when he got a good ball and headed for the box, where he evaded the custodian and placed it in the back of the net.
Pele led by four goals at the stroke of half time after Calvin Shepherd was the last to find the back of the net for his team.
After the 15 minute break, Pele picked up from where they left off with a Stephan Bourne’s 50th minute strike that stretched the already commanding lead.
Holder got on the scoring list to first register his double then his hat trick in the 55th and 58th minutes, taking advantage of a miss penalty kick in the process.
As if it wasn’t enough, Pele recorded three more goals before the regulation time whistle went, to march into the semis, even though Uprising found the net a second time.
In the GDF/Riddim Squad encounter no goal was scored in either regulation or extra time, which forced the match into a dreadful penalty shoot out that the Army boys won 4 – 3.
