Sparta Boss will oppose Kitty Weavers while West Front Road will tackle Queen Street Tiger Bay in tomorrow’s semi-finals of the inaugural Guyana Beverage Company Busta 5-a-side football competition following hard-fought quarterfinal wins on Tuesday.
In front of a medium-sized crowd at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, Sparta Boss was made to work before overcoming Sophia 5-2 in the feature contest of the round.
Captain Shem Porter gave Sophia the lead with only 31 seconds on the clock, blasting his right footed freekick into the left hand side after being awarded the spot-kick just outside the penalty area following rash challenge by the goalkeeper.
The North East La Penitence side would level the score in the eighth minute compliments of a Gregory Richardson finish into the left corner, after he collected a pass within the centre of the penalty box unchallenged.
Sparta Boss would then take the lead 10 minutes later as Travis Grant scored, placing the ball into the lower right corner of the net from within the left side of the box, following a pass from just outside the centre of the box.
The contest would serve up another twist in the tale as Sophia equalized in the 27th minute to force the matchup into the extra time interval compliments of talisman Dwayne Lowe.
Picking up the ball just over the half way mark in enemy territory, Lowe would evade the challenges of two defenders before bundling the ball into the back of the net after his shot from within the centre of the box, took a small deflection off an opposing player.
The first extra time interval almost saw Sophia retaking the lead in the 32nd minute but Akeem Jaikissoon was denied by the opposing ‘keeper in a one-on-one situation, after collecting a right sided pass within the centre of the box.
Sophia would live to rue their earlier miss as Richardson pushed Sparta back into the lead one minute onward, cutting into the centre of the field from the right side before lashing his effort into the lower right hand corner.
The resulting goal would knock the wind out of Sophia’s sails as Devon Millington made it 4-2 in the 34th minute, blasting his effort from the centre of the field into the lower left hand corner, after being in a one-on-one situation.
Sparta Boss would then seal the result in the 37th minute as Richardson completed his hat-trick, cutting in from the right side once more, before placing his effort into the right corner with the outside of his boot.
With the win, the North East La Penitence unit setup an intriguing matchup with unlikely semi-finalists Kitty Weavers, who upset Festival City 3-0.
Going down 4-1 to Festival City in the earlier group round, Kitty would steal the lead in the seventh minute as Colin Clarke scored through a right footed shot into the lower right hand corner, after collecting a left side pass just inside the centre of the area.
Festival City would briefly be reduced to four players for the stipulated three minutes as Odel Williams picked up a yellow card for a clumsy challenge in the 17th minute.
Kitty would quickly capitalize on their numerical advantage as Wendell St. Hill scored in the 19th minute compliments of an attempt into the lower right corner from the centre of the box.
Festival City’s capitulation would continue in the dying minutes of the final period as Keith Fletcher picked up a yellow in the 26th minute for a rash challenge.
Similar to their earlier numerical advantage, Kitty would take capitalize as Quincy Madramootoo scored, hammering home his effort from within the area into the lower right hand corner.
Meanwhile, Queen Street Tiger Bay downed Bent Street by a 2-0 margin to earn a clash against West Front Road.
Darrel Harris opened the scoring in the second minute, placing his right footed shot into the left corner from within the right side of the box, after collecting a pass from a freekick just outside the top of the area.
The win would then be sealed in the 13th minute as Harris netted his second, powering his right footed strike into centre of the goal, after racing onto the ball following a solo run down the centre of the park.
On the other hand, West Front Road-Gold is Money defeated Cross Street by a 1-0 score line in the third fixture of the evening to clinch their berth in the final four.
In a rematch of the group round which was won 4-3 by West Front Road, Randolph Wagner settled the outcome in the 20th minute, rifling his right footed effort into the lower right hand corner after racing down the right side of the field.
Victors of the tourney will receive the championship trophy and $600,000. Meanwhile the second, third and fourth placed sides will receive $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively and the respective accolade.
The most discipline team will receive $25,000. On the individual side, the most valuable player (MVP) will receive $50,000 while the highest goal scorer will pocket a gold chain.
