A second half hat-trick by national forward, Dwight Peters, earned his club, Alpha United, a hard fought three-one victory over Rosignol United when the 23rd Kashif and Shanghai Tournament continued Friday night at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.
A penalty five minutes after play resumed after half-time (50th minute) along with two other brilliant strikes by the rampant Peters in the 58th and 72nd minutes, propelled the star studded tournament favourites into the quarter final round and one step closer to the $4M first prize.
In front of a sizable crowd which was much larger than Sunday’s opening, Alpha United, took the field with the likes of national Captain Chris Nurse, guest player and Grenada’s star forward, Kithson Bain, current and former national players, Kayode McKinnon, Daniel Wilson, Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams and others, but looked rusty against the lesser celebrated Berbice team.
Undaunted by the opposition, Rosignol United played spiritedly, fighting for loose balls, outrunning their counterparts on the damp field and breaking down the untidy defence.
In the first five minutes it was all Rosignol United but the team from the Ancient County failed to bury their chances and paid dearly as they are now out of the competition.
After an errant pass just outside the 18-yard box by Nurse ended up on the boot of a lurking Rosignol United’s Tyson Carmichael, he promptly sent a right footed screamer that eluded the outstretched Alpha United’s custodian Richie Richards but the shot past tantalizingly close to the far post to the gasp of the mixed crowd.
Alpha was also guilty of squandering scoring chances in the first half. With a combination of skill and speed, Peters continued to break down the opposition’s defence and sent a pin point pass to the boot of Abrams who saw Rosignol’s custodian, Keith Fraser out of position but his shot missed by inches
Just before the half time whistle, McKinnon had a chance to score but his right footer from just inside the 18-yard box eluded Fraser and hit the cross bar.
After half-time, Alpha came out with a more sense of urgency and began to play more aggressively. Their aggression paid off when McKinnon penetrated the defence and was fouled. The score was one-nil when Peters buried the penalty.
Abrams made up for his missed opportunity when he eluded his defenders and sent a perfect pass to Peters who easily found the back of the net from point blank range.
Five minutes later, Delbert Wilson scored of a brilliant free kick that eluded Alpha United’s wall and a diving Richards to give his side a sniff of a comeback.
Hopes of a comeback was short-lived when Fraser, who was brilliant between the uprights, blocked Bain’s screamer but Peters pounced on the rebounded and nailed the shot to record his hat-trick.
Meanwhile in the first game of the double header, Western Tigers mauled Grove Hi Tech 7-0 to clinch their quarter-final berth.
Five goals by former national forward Devon Millington in the 31st, 33rd,50th,86th and 89th minutes along with strikes from national player,Shawn Beveney (79th minute) and Paul Giles (80th minute) made up the goal fest by Western Tigers.
Buxton United and B.V. Triumph, Pele and Amelia’s Ward United are the other teams that booked quarter-final places so far.
Lucky ticket holders won cell phones, a motor cycle, food hampers and other prizes.
The tournament’s action will continue this evening with another double-header at the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground.
Milerock will tackle Den Amstel at 6:30pm, while Silver Shattas will take on Uitvlugt United at 8:30pm.
