Pele climbed to the fourth spot in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League outflanking the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) 3-1 Sunday at the Camp Ayanganna ground.
Gregory `Jackie Chan’ Richardson recorded a double in the 20th and 40th minutes while Omallo Williams assisted with a 60th minute strike. On target in the loss was Selwyn Isaacs in the 80th minute.
With the result, Pele, on 16 points, occupy the fourth position while the home side is in fifth place on 14 points. Viewed by a small gathering, it was the home side that almost took the lead in the 13th minute but Delroy Fraser fired a right foot strike just wide of the left corner from the right side of the box.
The chances continued to be created for GDF, with Alden Lawrence missing a great chance two minutes onward as a flat right sided cross from Delwyn Fraser which evaded the Pele backline, was missed inexplicably by the onrushing forward at the far post.
As per normal, the failure to convert the opportunities came back to haunt the hosts as Richardson scored, directing an unchallenged header on target inside the centre of the box which could only be pushed into the left corner by the goalkeeper, after collecting a perfectly placed right side cross from Colric Beckles.
Richardson made the hosts suffer once more as he netted his second five minutes to the halftime break, fighting off the challenge of his marker while racing onto a pass inside the right of the box, before dribbling the onrushing goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the empty net.
It was a familiar story for the army unit in the second period as they dominated possession without making any inroads. GDF’s consistent failures in the final third was punished once more as Williams made his presence felt on the opposite end, racing into the right side of the box, before cutting back on favoured left left and rifling strike into the lower left hand corner.
With the forwards struggling to find the back of the net despite being presented with great opportunities, centre-half Isaacs displayed the quality required in front of the target as he unleashed a powerful volley from the top of the box, which sailed into the top left hand corner.
Meanwhile, the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) conceded their 10th loss in the tourney as they went down to Buxton United by a 2-0 margin.
The versatile Denver Dennis recorded a double in the 30th and 40th minutes to seal what was the East Coast of Demerara unit’s second win to date.
With the victory, Buxton United move into the sixth position on eight points while the Bourda based unit remain in the cellar on one point.
Action in the event is set to continue today at the same venue. In the opening fixture at 18:00hrs, Fruta Conquerors United will oppose Monedderlust while Slingerz will tackle Alpha United in the feature affair from 20:30hrs.
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.
