A new champion will be crowned in the Guinness of the Streets Georgetown Championship on Saturday at the National Park as Sparta Boss and newcomer Channel-9-Warriors recorded hard-fought semi-final wins over North Ruimveldt and Back Circle respectively on Tuesday.
The largest crowd to date at the National Cultural Centre witnessed Sparta Boss downing holder North Ruimveldt 3-2 in a sea-saw and fiery encounter. The feature semi-final of the night was dubbed the clash of the champions due to Sparta Boss’s position as the national winners.
However it was the Georgetown champ that started the match in the best possible manner as Joshua Brown scored in the 12th minute, blasting his effort into the right corner after collecting a right-sided pass outside the centre of the area.
The wild celebrations of the partisan North Ruimveldt crowd was silenced one minute later as Gregory Richardson scored, slotting into the net from outside the area, after collecting a right sided pass from Devon Millington.
Momentum in the fixture changed hands once more as Solomon Austin pushed North Ruimveldt ahead in the 30th minute, intercepting a poor pass from the final defender outside the centre of the box, before blasting his effort into the left corner, igniting wild celebrations around the venue.
Nonetheless, it was déjà vu for the holders and their support group as they surrendered the equaliser one minute onward as an errant pass across the goal, was stolen off the boot of the final defender who slipped, allowing Richardson to calmly slot home into the empty net.
With a winner unable to be found during the remaining minutes of normal time, the extra time interval was required to settle outcome.
The commencement of the period eventually led to Sparta Boss snatching the go-ahead winner in the 41st minute as Millington made the difference, rifling his first time effort into the centre of the net after collecting a left-sided pass on the right side of the goal.
In the earlier showdown, Channel-9-Warriors continued their giant-killing ways as they downed former winner Back Circle by a 2-0 score line on penalty kicks.
With the score locked at 1-1 at the end of the normal and extra time intervals, the youthful outfit started the penalty shoot-out in the best possible manner as they netted from the distance.
Forced to play catch-up following their rival’s conversion, Back Circle found themselves behind the eighth ball as Stephon McLean missed from the mark, much to the approval of the partisan crowd.
It went from bad to worse for the former winner as Channel-9-Warriors netted in their second attempt in the form of Kemo Lawrence.
Needing a conversion to push the matchup into the third and final round, Devon Harris sealed his side’s exit as he missed from the distance, joining the likes of Leopold Street and West Front Road as the high profile sides to fall to the hands of the Warriors.
Prior to the fixture’s end, Channel-9-Warriors grabbed the shock lead in the 10th minute as Lawrence scored, placing his right-sided shot into the centre of the net, after collecting a left-sided pass from Dennis Edwards, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
This occurred moments after Andy Duke struck the woodwork for Back Circle. Nonetheless, Back Circle eventually grabbed the equaliser in the 25th minute as Duke upon racing down the left flank, blasted his effort through the legs of the final defender and into the net.
In the earlier exhibition fixtures, the Guyana Prison Service defeated Banks DIH 1-0 while Campbellville dismissed North Sophia by a 3-1 margin and Tribe of Lykens downed North East La Penitence by an identical score line.
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.
