Defending champion Sparta Boss and Tucville will face-off in the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Football Championship final tomorrow at the National Park, following contrasting semi-final wins over Back Circle and Broad Street respectively on Tuesday.
The holders became the second team in the event’s history to clinch consecutive Georgetown final’s berth, ironically joining Back Circle, the team they defeated 2-1 in front of a raucous National Cultural Centre tarmac crowd.
Back Circle, the 2011 winner, achieved the feat when they returned to the final in 2012.
In Tuesday night’s clash, Back Circle took the lead in the seventh minute under fortuitous circumstances in what was the second meeting of the teams.
Eusi Phillips was the culprit for Sparta Boss as a simple clearance from final defender Stephon McLean, struck his chest and, as he tried to control the ball, it rolled into the left corner, much to the disbelief of his teammates.
From this point it seemed like Back Circle would maintain their unbeaten record against Sparta Boss in the tournament.
However, the returning Devon Millington had other ideas and, in the 19th minute, pounced on a poor clearance before passing the ball to Solomon Austin who finished from the left side into the right corner, following a two-on-one situation.
The goal deflated the East Ruimveldt-based unit who began to argue among themselves at halftime.
Courtney Britton then sealed his team’s place in the final with a 21st minute to goal, stabbing a first time effort through the legs of the advancing final defender from the right side of the penalty area.
Meanwhile, Tucville continued their giant killing ways as they defeated another former champion in the form of 2010 winner Broad Street by a 1-0 score.
It was the third win for the unlikely side against former champs, following victories against 2011 titlist Back Circle in the group stage and 2012 victor Leopold Street in the previous quarterfinal section. Opting for a defensive approach, Tucville executed their game plan to perfection, with the introduction of seasoned campaigner Gerald Gittens proving to be a master stroke as, they shackled the Broad Street offence [The best in the event with 10 conversions].
Emerging star Leon Richardson recorded his second goal of the tournament in the fifth minute to silence the large Broad Street fan base.
Picking up the ball on the right side, Richardson unleashed a powerful right foot effort which crashed into the roof of the net.
Although the early concession forced Broad Street to play a more direct brand of football, their attempts at finding the equalizer were thwarted with relative ease as they were reduced to long range shots against the systematic Tucville rearguard.
Such was dominance of the Tucville backline, that they almost doubled their lead in the 32nd minute following a counterattack as, Delon Williams rattled the woodwork from the centre of the field.
For Broad Street, their best chance fell to Lennox Cort, the event’s top scorer with three conversions, in the 36th minute as, his one on one opportunity with final defender Gittens was thwarted easily by crunching tackle from the veteran ball weaver.
Due to the respective results, the losers will face-off in the traditional third place playoff prior to the grand finale.
Winner of the event will pocket $500,000 and the championship trophy.
The second, third and fourth placed unit will receive$200,000, $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding accolade.
