An errant signal by the fourth official led to the Beacons and Flamingo matchup being marred as the former prevailed 4-2 on penalty kicks when the 5th annual GFA/Banks Beer Knockout Championship continued on Wednesday.
With the scored locked 3-1 at the GFC during the fourth round of the penalty shoot-out, the official at the centre following a signal from the fourth official, sounded his whistle to prematurely end the contest.
At the time of the premature stoppage, Flamingo had one legitimate penalty to take in the fourth round. The stoppage led players from both teams heading to their respective benches while the error was noticed by other officials and some spectators on the side lines.
Following the intervention of the officials, normalcy was restored despite most of the Flamingo players inclusive of their goal-keeper having left the field. Flamingo eventually resumed their penalty shoot-out effort amid frustrations and netted to cut the deficit to one at 3-2.
However, Beacons sealed the win at the start of the fifth round as they converted from the distance. Prior to the erroneous whistle, Beacons took the early lead in the penalty shoot-out, netting from the mark after being asked to take first strike while their opponent failed to score.
The score moved to 2-1 as both teams converted in the second round. The third round witnessed the score remaining unchanged as both sides failed to convert. Beacons then scored at the start of the fourth round to take a 3-1 lead which led to the aforesaid incorrect call by the officials.
In the earlier moments of the fixture, Sheldon Gorrick gave Flamingo the lead, netting in the 70th minute after racing onto through pass down the centre of the field, before finishing past the keeper at the top of the box into the lower left corner.
Beacons eventually equalized in the 83rd minute as they were awarded a penalty kick following a foul by the keeper within the box. Tasked with the responsibility from the distance, Chris Galloway made no mistake, placing his right-footed strike into the lower left corner.
With the win, Beacons will now lock horns with Riddim Squad in the quarterfinal round.
