Victoria Kings secured their second win the inaugural Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GTT) Knockout Football Championship, labouring past Rosignol United by a 2-1 margin on Wednesday at the No. #5 Ground, West Berbice.
Oswin Bishop and Alden Lawrence scored in the 45th+1 and 89th minutes respectively for the East Coast Demerara unit. On the other side, Cornel Taylor scored in the 78th minute. With the win, Victoria move onto six points from three matches.
They will now face off with New Amsterdam in the eliminator round for a semi-final spot. Meanwhile Rosignol United remain on one point from their three matches.
Needing to secure at-least a draw to guarantee their berth in the next round, Rosignol United almost conceded the lead in the 11th minute as Aubrey Gibson was denied by the keeper following a strike from the left side of the box.
On the other hand, the visitors nearly surrendered the lead two minutes later as Oswin Carmichael fired his right-footed effort wide of the lower left corner, from the top of the penalty area.
A great chance went a-begging for the East Coast of Demerara unit in the 41st minute as Carlos DeSouza upon latching onto a deflected strike from the custodian, blasted his effort from within the box over the crossbar.
Nonetheless, the visitors garnered the lead on the stroke of the half time interval in a fortuitous manner as a simple right-sided cross from Bishop, went through the grasp of the keeper and into the back of the net.
While the second period failed to match the intensity of the opening salvo, the Berbice unit snatched the equaliser 12 minutes before the end of normal time as Taylor from the penalty mark with a right- footed finish into the right corner, following a hand-ball infraction.
Despite equalising, the Berbice unit almost conceded another goal one minute later as Gibson upon pouncing on a loose ball within the left of the box following a right-sided cross, fired a tame effort at the goal only for the defender to thwart the danger.
Victoria Kings eventually grabbed the go-ahead winner one minute before the end as Lawrence converted from the penalty mark into the top right-hand corner, following a handball infringement within the left of the box.
In the opening group-B fixture, Topp XX downed New Amsterdam United by a 4-2 margin to automatically seal their berth in the semi-final round. Oswald Benjamin led the Lindeners with a brace in the second and 25th minutes. He was assisted by Travis Watterton and Keyon Hall who scored in the 10th and 73rd minutes respectively. For the Berbicians, Adrian Adams scored in the 35th and 69th minutes. With the win, Topp XX move onto nine points from three games.
On the other hand, New Amsterdam remain on three points from as many games. They also drop to the third position within the standings. They will now play an eliminator match against Golden Grove for the opportunity to seal a berth in the semi-final round.
Winner of the event will pocket $500,000 and the championship trophy while the second place side will pocket $250,000 and the respective accolade. The third place side will receive $125,000 and a trophy while the fourth positioned unit will collect $75,000 and the respective accolade.
