A large crowd was on hand to witness the Gregory Richardson show as Sparta Boss were crowned the inaugural Guyana Beverage Company sponsored Busta 5-a-side football champs, dismissing West Front Road 4-2 on Tuesday in the grand finale.
Richardson settled the outcome at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground with a hat-trick in the 11th, 26th and 35th minutes. Scoring the opening goal in the win was Devon Millington in the sixth minute.
Netting in the loss were Colin Nelson and Michael Pedro in the 22nd and 40th minutes. With the win, the North East La Penitence unit walked away with the championship trophy and $600,000 while West Front Road received the runners-up accolade and $300,000.
The intent of Sparta Boss was evident early as Millington struck the crossbar in the fourth minute following a first time effort after collecting a right sided pass.
Their intensity would quickly be rewarded as Millington broke the deadlock two minutes onward, punching his effort into the lower right hand corner from the centre of the field, after intercepting a wayward pass from Michael Pedro, to ignite their large following.
From here onward it would be all about Richardson as he gave their fandom another reason to celebrate, doubling their lead five minutes onward with a right footed shot into the lower left corner, after collecting a pass from a left sided free kick within the centre of the field.
Rattled by their quick concessions, West Front Road almost pulled once back in the 14th minute as Michael Oie upon receiving a right sided pass within the left half of the area, fired his attempt wide of the left corner.
Colin Nelson would eventually ignite some life into the West Front Road camp as he cut the deficit two minutes into the second stanza, finishing his effort into the lower left corner after collecting a right pass within the centre of the area.
However an individual moment of quality would scuttle West Front Road’s title intentions as Richardson completed a deserved double.
Receiving the ball down the centre of the field, Richardson would fake his marker Hubert Pedro to his left before cutting back on his right foot to unleash a thunderous effort into the lower left corner, sending their supporters into a frenzy.
The exclamation point would then be applied to the contest as Richardson sealed his hat-trick five minutes before the end, blasting a right footed effort into the lower left corner, from outside the centre of the area.
With the championship already in the proverbial bag, West Front Road would find a consolation goal as Michael Pedro from the centre of the park, rifled his right footed attempt into the lower right hand corner.
Prior to the finale, Queen Street Tiger Bay squeaked past Kitty Weavers by a 3-2 margin to seal the third position. Darren Harris took his individual tally to eighth goals with a hat-trick on either side of half time in the sixth, 20th and 31st minutes.
On target in the loss were Nigel Denny and Sherwin Vincent in the 12th and 26th minutes respectively. Due to the win, Queen Street walked away with respective accolade and $200,000 while Kitty Weavers collected $100,000 and the fourth place trophy.
With regards to the post tourney awards, Sheldon Shepherd of Sparta Boss was adjudged the event’s most valuable player (MVP) and walked away with $50,000 compliments of 2J’s General Store.
On the other hand, Sophia’s Dwayne Lowe copped the highest goal scorer accolade with nine conversions in five matches. For his exploits, the nippy forward received a gold chain from Junior’s Jewellery.
Similarly, the most disciplined team award went to West Front Road who collected $25,000 compliments of event sponsors the Guyana Beverage Company.
