BK Western Tigers edged Beterverwagting (BV)/Triumph United 1-0 when the quarterfinal round of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)/Banks Beer Cup concluded on Friday at the Tucville Community ground.
Stellon David spared the West Ruimveldt giant’s blushes with a 90th+2 minute wonder strike from a right sided free kick.
In a match that failed to ignite in the opening first half exchanges, Hubert Pedro would be denied
by the East Coast custodian Linden Dennis in the 52nd minute in a one on one situation.
Receiving a Dwayne Ali through pass from the centre of the pitch that pierced the middle of the defence, Pedro would be denied by the advancing Dennis who upon cutting the angle towards goal, stole the ball off the striker’s foot.
Making an appearance as a second half substitute, wily wideman Randolph Wagner would be denied in his very first attempt on goal in the 57th minute as his strike inside the six-yard box from a right side corner kick, was denied by Dennis low to his right.
With his inclusion providing the necessary cutting edge in attack, Wagner almost provided the perfect pass for the opening goal in the 67th as his left side cross was met with a diving header by older sibling Pedro, who placed his effort just wide of the left upright.
The frustrations continued for the partisan Western Tigers crowd as Wagner was denied once again in the 72nd minute by Dennis who smothered his shot on the left side of the box with a sliding, spreading challenge.
It went from bad to worse for the West Ruimveldt faithful as event leading scorer Pedro missed a penalty attempt in the 77th minute.
Tasked with taking the spot kick awarded for a clumsy challenge on Wagner within the left side of the box, Pedro would opt for power instead of a placement and duly thumped his right foot effort well wide of the right post.
Buoyed by their recent slice of luck, the East Coast side almost stole the lead three minutes later as Julian White forced a smart save from custodian Derick Carter with a strike from the left side of the penalty area.
Quiet throughout the matchup and with extra time only a minute way, David would fashion a gem of a strike to settle the contest.
With the ball positioned 26 yards from the target, the left footed midfielder would unleash a beautiful strike that rocketed into the top left hand corner, to send the large crowd into wild celebrations.
Victorious coach, Calvin ‘Flu man’ Allen during an invited comment said:” To be honest, I expected a tough game and it was. The execution in the final third was not good, we played possession football but we didn’t finish our chances.
“The team was comfortable in defence and we were very compact. One of the good things was that we kept a clean sheet,” added Allen.
For their efforts, Western Tigers will now match skills with Slingerz FC in the semi-final round following the Vergenoegen side’s 4-0 thumping of Den Amstel Porknockers, in the heated West Demerara Derby quarterfinal match.
