Sparta Boss will faceoff with West Front Road while Showstoppers will tackle North Ruimveldt in the semi-final round following play in the Guinness Greatest of the Streets National Championships Saturday at the National Cultural Centre tarmac.
Divided into two groups of four and utilizing a format where an outright win is three points, a penalty win is two points and a penalty loss is one point, Sparta Boss emerged as the winner of group-A with five points.
North Ruimveldt finished as the runners-up in the group with three points, edging Globe Yard on goal difference who also secured three points. Finishing in the cellar position was Leopold Street with a point.
In group-B, West Demerara unit Showstoppers finished the surprise winner with five points while West Front Road secured second with four points.
Completing the group in the third and fourth positions were Unruly Gang of Berbice and Melanie-B of East Coast of Demerara with two and one point respectively. In the opening round of group-A matches, Sparta Boss edged Globe Yard by a 1-0 margin.
Jermin Weekes settled the outcome in the 20th minute, bundling the ball into the goal after latching onto a left sided pass. North Ruimveldt in their opener, dismantled Leopold Street by a 2-0 margin.
Colin Daniels opened the scoring in the 12th minute, stabbing his effort into the net following a two-on-one situation alongside Travis Grant.
Daniels would then seal the win one minute later, slotting home down the centre, after collecting a left sided pass from Grant following a swift passing combination between the duo in the centre of the field.
In the group-B fixtures, Showstoppers edged West Front Road 2-0 on penalty kicks after normal time ended 1-1. Marvin Josiah gave Showstoppers the lead in the fourth minute with a well-placed shot into the right corner from the left side of the field.
West Front Road would eventually level the score three minutes onward, finishing into the left corner from the right side, after receiving a left sided pass from Michael Pedro following a passing combination.
With a winner unable to be found at the end of normal time, Showstoppers would prevail on penalty kicks, netting twice from the mark in the form of Dexroy Adams and Josiah while Wagner and Jamal Pedro failed to hit the mark.
The other matchup of group-B saw Unruly Gang edging Melanie-B 2-0 on penalty kicks after normal time ended scoreless. In the second round of group-A matches, Sparta Boss edged Leopold Street 2-0 on penalty kicks after normal time ended 2-2.
Dennis Edwards opened the scoring in the fifth minute for Sparta Boss with a first time strike into the net, after collecting a pass from Devon Millington.
They would then extend their lead in the 17th minute as Sheldon Shepherd stabbed his effort into the centre of the goal after collecting a left sided pass from Millington.
Okeene Fraser would then pull one back for Leopold Street, rifling his right footed shot into the middle of the net from the centre of the field.
Andre Sookhoo would then push the game into penalty kicks, slotting home down the centre of the net after collecting a right sided pass from Omallo Williams. Nonetheless, Sparta Boss would prevail in the penalty shoot-out as Millington and Shepherd netted from the mark while Williams and Fraser missed. The final matchup of group-A saw Globe Yard edging North Ruimveldt 1-0.
Needing to win by a two goal margin to progress, Globe Yard fell agonizingly short as Andrew Murray Jr. netted in the 20th minute compliments of a placed shot into the net from just outside the area. In group-B, West Front Road defeated Unruly Gang 1-0.
Needing a win to claim a place in the next round, Wagner would seal West Front Road’s position in the ninth minute with a powerful right time effort into the right corner, after collecting a right sided pass on the left side of the field.
The last match of group-B saw Showstoppers edging Melanie-B 1-0 compliments of a Nathan Allicock strike in the 21st minute down the centre of the goal. Up to press time, the semi-finals and final was in progress yesterday at the Demerara Park Tarmac.
Winner of the event will walk away with $500,000, the championship trophy and the opportunity to represent the country in the Caribbean Championship which is slated to be held in Jamaica from June 26th-29th.
The second, third and fourth positioned teams will walk away with $250,000, $150,000 and $100,000 correspondingly and the respective accolade.
