A heavyweight clash and an unlikely pairing will highlight the semi-final round today in the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship as holders North Ruimveldt oppose Sparta Boss while Back Circle tackle newcomers Channel-9 Warriors.
Both the opening contest at 10am between Back Circle and Channel-9 Warriors and the feature contest at 11am between Sparta Boss and North Ruimveldt are expected to be exciting matchups. It will be the third matchup between Sparta Boss and North Ruimveldt in the recent history of the event, with both sides sharing one win apiece. North Ruimveldt in their campaign to claim the Georgetown title, defeated Sparta Boss via penalty kicks in the semi-final round of the previous competition. On the other hand, Sparta Boss edged North Ruimveldt in the National Championship finale to represent Guyana at the Caribbean Tournament.
Despite Sparta Boss’s star-studded roster featuring the likes of Devon Millington, Sheldon Shepherd and Gregory Richardson, North Ruimveldt will enter the fixture as the slight favourite as they are yet to taste defeat.
Offensively, the holders have scored six goals during their five matches led by Nickosie Barker and Linris Carrington who have three and two conversions respectively. They will also have the services of the experienced Travis Grant to call upon. Defensively, North Ruimveldt has conceded only once during the campaign.
On the other side, Sparta Boss has scored eight times, with Shepherd netting a joint tourney leading five goals followed by Dennis Edwards who has scored twice. From the defensive standpoint, the East La Penitence based unit has been breached three times.
If the feature contest is expected to be a high profile meeting, the earlier semi-final contest will be a matchup of contrasting sides. Former winner Back Circle has been the best team in the event and will hope to avoid the fate of Leopold Street and West Front Road who have been booted from the contest by giant killers and newcomers Channel-9 Warriors.
From the attacking standpoint, Back Circle has scored a tourney leading 11 goals led by top scorer Andy Duke with five conversions. Attacking threats have also been provided by Devon Harris and Jermaine Beckles with two conversions.
With regards to their defensive numbers, Back Circle has only conceded thrice to date. A closer look, however, highlight that they are yet to be breached in the knockout round of the tourney.
Meanwhile, Channel-9 Warriors have been the event’s revelation and will attempt to add the former winners to their list of high profile eliminations.
On the attacking end, Channel-9 Warriors have scored six times, with Joshua Fiffie leading the way with three conversions followed by Kevon Barrow and Kemo Lawrence with two and one goal each.
Defensively, the youthful outfit has been even more impressive as they are yet to concede in the entire championship. Prior to the commencement of the semi-finals, three exhibition matches will be staged. The winner of the event will pocket $500,000, the championship trophy and the right to represent the zone at the national tourney while the second, third and fourth placed units will collect $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively and the corresponding accolade.
