The two football teams from Buxton, Bakewell Buxton Stars and Buxton United, were eliminated from the fourth annual Namilco Football Festival by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Sunburst Camptown respectively on Wednesday night at the Tucville Playfield.
In the curtain raiser of the double header defending champions, Sunburst Camptown defeated Buxton United 4 -2 then GDF dominated Buxton Stars in the feature match up 5 – 0 to move on to the quarterfinals.
The competition continues tonight with another double header at the same venue with Rosignol United and New Amsterdam clashing in the opening match-up from 6pm and then hosts, Fruta Conquerors will face Seawall United from 8pm.
On Wednesday, Buxton United and Camptown contested a tough first half with both teams being unable to draw blood.
However, at the resumption of the second half, Lance Rawlston drew first blood for the eventual victors in the 48th minute, then Clive Andries pulled one back for Buxton United to once again level the scores and keep the pressure on the opposition.
Camptown were able to regain the lead through Rishawn Sandiford who scored in the 63rd then completed his brace in the 80th minute while Nigel Codrington scored a 70th minute goal to account for the other Camptown goal.
Keon Norville scored a consolation goal for Buxton United in the final minute of play to end the encounter with a three-goal deficit.
In the feature match-up, GDF proved the stronger, more composed squad by dominating ball possession and outplaying the opposition in every aspect of the game.
GDF went ahead in the 31st minute following a defence error from Buxton Stars’ Bako Lewis, then Warren Gilkes who was giving the defenders and goalkeeper Sion Griffith a lot of trouble, was finally able to score in the 38th minute.
The second 45 minutes started with Buxton Stars down by two goals and GDF picked up right where they left off as they continued to dominate ball possession and fire accurate shots on goal.
GDF forwards got another opportunity to storm the Buxton goal and in the process of going after an air ball, Griffith and a GDF player collided in the air and came down hard. Griffith suffered the worse fate and had to leave the ground with a dislocated shoulder.
Buxton’s substitute keeper took the field and displayed early on that he lacked experience. He became a spectacle as GDF players attacked even more.
Hubert Pedro pushed the lead to three goals in the 77th minute and Gilkes completed his double in the 86th minute while Randy Andres delivered the final blow in the last minute of play to make it a blowout victory.
