Pele snatched the lead at the top of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League, dismissing Monedderlust FC by a 3-0 score line on Wednesday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.
Travis Grant led the assault for the Georgetown unit with the fastest goal of the event in 50 seconds while Gregory Richardson and Darren Harris contributed with strikes in the 31st and 81st minute respectively.
As a result of the win, Pele moved to the top of the standings with 14 points, leapfrogging Alpha United who sit on 12 points.
Coming into the match on the back of an impressive win, Pele started in the perfect manner as Grant broke the deadlock seconds before the first minute, slotting into the back of the net from the right side of the box.
Pele then doubled their lead 30 minutes later as Richardson netted a tourney high sixth individual goal, placing the ball past the keeper from within the left side of the box into the back of the net.
With the score unchanged going into the second period, Pele nearly increased their lead in the 53rd minute as Richardson unleashed a powerful flat left-footed strike from within the left side of the box, which was denied by the hand of the keeper.
The Berbicians almost pulled one back under fortuitous circumstances in the 67th minute as Pele centre half Jumane Somerset headed a clearance onto the onrushing striker, which ricocheted and almost flew into the net, only to be denied by custodian Devon Charles who was alert to the danger.
Nonetheless, the Georgetown unit netted their third and final goal of the night nine minutes before the end of normal time as Harris scored into the lower left-hand corner from the top of the box.
While the finish must be commended, the creation of the goal was all Richardson as he tipped the ball around the onrushing custodian outside the right side of the box, before cutting into the box and laying off the pass to the onrushing Harris.
Similarly, the score line almost read 4-0 in the 90th+3 minute as a Marlon Nedd volley from the top of the box was denied by the diving custodian. In the feature contest, Fruta Conquerors surrendered a two- goal lead to draw 2-2 with the GFC.
The winner of the tournament will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth-place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively. The point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
Action in the tournament is slated to continue tomorrow with a doubleheader at the No. #5 ground in Berbice. In the opening fixture at 19:00hrs, Fruta Conquerors will oppose Slingerz FC while Monedderlust FC will lock horns with Alpha United in the feature matchup at 21:00hrs.
Current Points Standings
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Pele 6 4 0 2 13 6 +7 14
Alpha United 6 3 0 3 9 3 +6 12
Slingerz 5 2 0 3 6 1 +5 9
Fruta Conquerors 6 2 2 2 8 9 -1 8
Monedderlust 6 2 4 0 6 12 -6 6
Guyana Defence Force 5 1 2 2 7 8 -1 5
GFC 6 1 3 2 5 8 -3 5
Buxton United 6 1 5 0 2 9 -7 3
