South Sophia recorded their first victory of the tourney, dismantling last year’s runners-up Stevedore Housing Scheme-A by a 4-0 margin when the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Georgetown leg continued last night at the National Cultural Centre tarmac.
Ryan O’Selmo opened the scoring for the victors in the fourth minute through a first-time, right-footed flicked on attempt from just outside the left post, after collecting a right-sided pass from midfielder Sheik Kamal.
Kamal would then make his presence felt once more in the 12th minute, assisting Dwayne Lowe’s simple finish into the empty net unchallenged from inside the penalty area, after providing a left-sided pass following a solo run.
It would then become 3-0 upon the resumption of the second half as Akeem Jaikissoon netted two minutes later, slotting his right-footed attempt into the empty goal after an attempted clearance by the onrushing final defender, fell fortuitously into his path in the centre of the field.
The best would then be saved for last as Lowe sealed the lopsided victory in the 20th minute with a running left-sided header into the empty net, after out-jumping his marker to get on the end of a left-sided cross.
In the opening matchup of the night, West Back Road upset North Ruimveldt 4-3 on sudden death kicks after the normal time interval finished 0-0.
The first round of penalty kicks would see West Back Road taking a 1-0 lead as they converted from the halfway mark while North Ruimveldt missed their first attempt in the form of Travis Grant. The scores would then become 2-1 as both sides scored in their second attempt at the distance.
Needing to score to keep his side in the matchup, Gerald Gittens would convert North Ruimveldt’s third and final attempt to make it 2-2. With only a conversion needed in West Back Road’s final attempt to seal the win, the fixture would require sudden death kicks they missed from the mark.
The scores would then remain 2-2 in the fourth round of the shoot-out as both sides missed. The back and forth tussle would continue in the fifth round as both teams struck goals to take the score to 3-3.
However inconsistency would continue to plague both outfits as neither scored in the sixth round of the shoot-out. Nevertheless West Back Road would seal the win in the seventh round of penalty kicks, scoring from the mark as North Ruimveldt failed to convert.
In the earlier exchanges of the matchup, Gittens should have opened the score for the eventual losers in the sixth minute as his right-footed strike was denied by the left upright, after being in a one-on-one situation with the final defender.
The woodwork would once again come to the rescue of the West Back Road unit as Gittens upon receiving a right-sided Grant pass, fired his first time effort narrowly over the crossbar from just outside the penalty area.
Fortune would continue to favour the West Back Road outfit in the second period as a right-footed Grant effort from just outside the penalty box, came cannoning off the crossbar in the 20th minute, much to the dismay of the North Ruimveldt supporters. Up to press time, the remaining six matches were being contested.
