BK Western Tigers overcame Buxton United 12-11 on sudden death kicks following a nil-all score at the end of normal and extra time when the Fruta Conquerors Football Club/Namilco sponsored One Love Knockout Festival continued on Wednesday.
Hosted at the Tucville ground, midfield hard-man Jerome Richardson sealed his side’s berth into the final eight, slotting home his penalty kick after custodian Derick Carter denied the 12th Buxtonian spot-kick following an agonizingly long shoot-out.
Prior to Carter’s leaping save low to his left, both sides had converted all their respective penalty kicks as the opening round of penalties finished 5-5.
In the opening half of the fixture, the East Coast almost took the lead in the 27th minute through a Esan Hammer strike from the left side of the field that flew a little wide of sneaking into the right corner.
Hubert Pedro almost broke the deadlock in the 41st minute for the West Ruimveldt side, forcing a smart save from custodian Jamal Booker low to his right from the centre of the penalty area that was parried onto the left upright.
The East Coast custodian would deny Pedro once more in the 67th minute, leaping acrobatically low to his left to parry a left-footed strike from just outside the box into the path of a team-mate who cleared the danger.
Booker’s heroics would continue in the 89th minute as he denied a powerful header from Richardson, tipping the resulting attempt over the crossbar following a left-sided corner kick as extra time loomed.
The virtuoso performance of the Buxton shot-stopper would continue in the extra time interval as he denied a Pedro header in the 117th minute low to his right from a right sided cross, forcing the fixture in penalty and eventually sudden kicks.
In the opening fixture, the Guyana Defence Force crushed Beterverwagting (BV)/Triumph United by a 6-0 margin to book their quarterfinal spot. Kenard Simon led the assault with a double in the 55th and 90th+2 minutes.
He was assisted by William Europe, Delwyn Fraser, Delroy Fraser and Nigel Braithwaite who netted in the 18th, 33rd, 82nd and 90th+3 minutes respectively.
