Santos FC edged Fruta Conquerors 2-1 when action in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Premier League Georgetown Playoffs continued on Wednesday at the Tucville Community Centre ground.
Vassel Canzelaar and Lerone Charles netted for the winners in the ninth and 64th minutes respectively. On target for the Tucville side in the 45th+1 minute was Eon Alleyne. Seen as a critical fixture for both sides as the conclusion of the event draws closer, Santos would stun the home side as they took the lead through right back Canzelaar.
Awarded a penalty for a resulting hand ball infringement, Canzelaar would have his initial attempt saved by the Conquerors shot stopper only for the rebound to fall fortuitously for him to score.
With only seconds away from the end of the half, Santos would be dealt a double blow as Canzelaar would be shown a straight red card for intentionally trying to prevent a Gerrald Gittens goal-bound strike with his arm inside the 18-yard area.
Stepping up to take the spot kick, Eon Alleyne would send the keeper the wrong way as he placed his flat right-footed effort to the right corner of the net. Despite a numerical disadvantage, Santos would look the better side as Conquerors continued to struggle for attacking fluency and imagination in the second period.
Their listless performance would not go unpunished as Charles upon running onto a defence splitting through pass, easily rounded the Tucville custodian and finished to seal the vital three points for his side.
Victorious coach Dwain Babb in an invited comment said, “It was a good game. When we went down to 10 men, I told the team they are gonna come out and run at us and that we need to be more defensive and counter when we can.”
Losing coach Sampson Gilbert in a post-match comment said, “As a result of our failure to convert our opportunities the defensive aspect of game has been put (under) pressure. We had the opportunity to win but we are not scoring goals. We are definitely looking forward to qualify out of the tournament and we are taking it one game at a time” he added.
In the other slated encounter, Riddim Squad through a Julian Forris 80th minute strike edged Camptown FC 1-0.
