Santos sealed their status as giant killers, defeating defending champs Sunburst Camptown 1-0 when the quarterfinal round of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)/Banks Beer Cup commenced on Christmas Day in front of a large crowd.
Fresh off their 2-0 demolition of the Kashif and Shanghai champions Buxton United in their round of 16 affair, Santos would break the deadlock at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground in the 40th minute, through their Surinamese import Christoff Wensley.
Racing into the left side of the penalty area, the lanky Dutchman would unleash a powerful flat drive across the body of the Campbellville custodian Oswald Cornette, which slammed into the right upright and rolled into the net.
Sunburst Camptown almost levelled the score line in the 65th minute of the second period, as an audacious overhead kick from Jahaal Greaves with his back to goal in the left side of the 18-yard box, was tipped over the bar by keeper Richard Reynolds.
The Campbellville side thought they had won the opportunity to level the score line in the 77th minute after a wild challenge by left full back Kishawn Lovell on right side midfielder Rashawn Sandiford inside the penalty area.
Receiving the ball on the right side, Sandiford upon skipping past Lovell would be brought down desperately with a wild lunge from behind by the fullback well inside the area, only for the official to dismiss the resulting Camptown appeals.
Wensley almost doubled Santos’s lead six minutes later as a right-sided strike from inside the six-yard box was denied by Cornette, after the forward had latched onto a spilled catch by the Camptown shot stopper from a Ryan Seals attempt from the centre of the field.
With the win, Santos has ensured that the tournament will crown a new champion. They will now face the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in the semi-final round, following the army side’s 3-2 victory over Alpha United in the second quarterfinal fixture of the evening.
Victorious coach Dwain Babb during an invited comment said “It was a tough game, Camptown is much more tactical team than Buxton. The Buxton game was more physical while this game was more tactical”.
“The team played better than last time and to me, with every game we are getting better”, said Babb.
Meanwhile, the final round of quarterfinal matches for the traditional Boxing Day card at the GFC ground was rescheduled for today at the Tucville Community Centre ground because of the inclement weather. In the opening game at 18:00hrs, BK Western Tigers will face off with Beterverwagting (BV)/Triumph United while Den Amstel Porknockers will tackle Slingerz FC in the West Demerara derby from 20:00hrs.
