Defending champs Monedderlust Football Club and Victoria Kings reached the final of the Starlite Generation/Monedderlust FC second annual Berbice Cup after defeating Cougars FC and Ann’s Grove respectively in the semi-final round on Saturday.
Played at the No. #5 ground in West Coast Berbice, the tournament hosts defeated Cougars of New Amsterdam 4-1 while Victoria Kings edged Ann’s Grove 4-3 to set up a Berbice versus East Coast of Demerara finale on Saturday at the same venue.
The third place playoff will also be held at the same venue between the losing semi-finalists. In the opening Berbice derby, Kenson Lindie gave the home side the lead in the second minute with a simple finish to the back of the net.
Monedderlust doubled their lead three minutes later as Travis Henry netted via the penalty spot.
A Stephon DeFlorimonte penalty conversion to the right side of the net in the 64th minute would allow Cougars to pull within one goal of the home side.
That would be the closest Cougars would come to overturning the deficit as Atlyn Brown netted with a superb bicycle kick into the back of the net in the 72nd minute, after latching onto a right sided cross within the left side of the box.
The win would then be sealed in the 86th minute as Brown grabbed his double with a clinical finish to the back of the net, after forcing a defensive error within the left side of the penalty area.
In the second semi-final, Victoria Kings took the early advantage compliments of an Ann’s Grove own goal in the 16th minute after a defender, in an attempt to deny a flat right sided cross, directed the ball into right hand corner of net.
It would then become 2-0 in the 33rd minute as Winston Pompey found the back of the net in sublime fashion, evading the challenges of two defenders upon cutting into the left side of the box before unleashing a powerful right footed effort into the right hand corner.
The score line would continue to balloon as Pompey registered his double five minutes later, placing his effort from within the centre of the box onto the right post and into the back of the net, following a one-on-one situation with the keeper.
Pompey would then net his hat trick in the 55th minute to push the scores to 4-0 with a simple right footed finish to the right corner from the penalty spot following a handball within the 18 yard area.
Ann’s Grove would eventually get on the score sheet five minutes later through a Malton Adams finish to the left side of the goal, following his penalty kick strike being parried back into his path by the Victoria shot-stopper.
The score line would then become 4-2 in the 90th+l minute as Adams grabbed his double, converting his second attempt from the penalty mark following a handball infraction into the lower right side.
Adams would then seal his second half hat trick in the 90th+6 minute through another penalty kick finish to the lower left corner, following another handball infringement by the Victoria defense.
The winners of the event will pocket $400,000 and the championship trophy while the runners-up will collect $300,000 and the respective title.
The third and fourth place finishers will walk away with $200,000 and $100,000 respectively. On the individual side, prizes will be awarded for the event’s most valuable players, top goal scorer, best defender and the best goalkeeper
