The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) continued its ascendancy in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League downing Buxton United 2-0 Saturday at the No.#5 ground, Berbice.
Poor officiating was again the hallmark of the contest as many errant challenges went uncarded. Despite the cagey nature, Olvis Mitchell and Delroy Fraser secured the hard-fought affair with goals in the 68th and 90th+2 minutes respectively.
With the win, GDF are now level with Alpha United on 14 points but remain in the fourth position on goal difference.
Buxton United, on the other hand, drops to the seventh spot on five points.
While the opening period featured very few chances, Jeffrey Perreira should have given the army unit the lead in the 27th minute.
Latching onto a pass unchallenged inside the right of the box, only to blast his right foot shot wide of the top right hand corner.
A moment of controversy came in the 36th minute when Esan Hamer of Buxton United felt he was denied a penalty after being brought down by the goalkeeper.
Racing into the right of the box to latch onto a lobbed pass, Hamer was hacked to the ground by the onrushing custodian who missed the ball completely, only for the official to wave off the protest as the forward laid on the turf.
The East Coast of Demerara unit almost seized the lead in the 42nd minute but a left side corner-kick, which evaded the grasp of the goalkeeper, was headed off the goal-line by captain Seon Prince.
It quickly became a game of two halves as Mitchell broke the deadlock 23 minutes into the second stanza, finishing his right foot effort into the right hand corner from inside the penalty area.
Substitute Delwyn Fraser almost made it 2-0 six minutes later, unleashing a powerful right footed attempt from the top of the box which bounced awkwardly in front of the custodian and slipped through his grasp.
The army unit continued to find its range.
Tyson Carmichael was next to take aim at the target, flashing a right foot shot on the bounce while racing onto a lobbed pass which forced the goalkeeper to parry the danger around the post low to his right.
GDF eventually recorded the fatal strike, Fraser scoring in the dying seconds.
Running onto a through pass down the centre of the field, he fired his attempt into the roof of the right corner past the advancing ‘keeper.
Despite the matchup being over following the sounding of the official’s whistle, Buxton United’s Ralph Moffat was issued a red card for using abusive language towards the referee.
Meanwhile, the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) remained winless in the event as they went down to home side Monedderlust by a 1-0 score line in the feature contest.
Winner of the League Finale round 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. Similarly, the point’s leader prior to the knockout stage will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
The season champion will then be crowned when the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale respectively faceoff in a single matchup. That winner will then earn an automatic berth at the CFU level.
If the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale rounds are the same team, they will earn the automatic CFU spot, with the second berth going to the team with the most accumulated points in both rounds non-inclusive of the eventual season champion.
Current Points Standings
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Slingerz 8 8 0 0 22 3 +19 24
Fruta Conquerors 8 6 1 1 20 9 +11 19
Alpha United 8 4 2 2 18 8 +10 14
GDF 8 4 2 2 13 12 +1 14
Pele 8 2 5 1 5 12 -7 7
Monedderlust 8 1 4 3 5 16 -11 6
Buxton United 8 1 5 2 5 12 -7 5
GFC 8 0 7 1 6 22 -16 1
