All roads will lead to the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue tonight when Future Stars battle Ol Skool Ballers in what should be a colossal ending to the Guinness ‘Cage’ Football tournament.
The battle lines have been drawn in what is expected to be a thrilling showdown for the coveted title with many pundits labelling the contest a dream meeting due to the dominant displays of both teams.
The meteoric rise of Future Stars has seen them earning the favourite tag by many fans and pundits. However, they must overcome a dangerous and fearless opponent in Albouystown’s Ol Skool Ballers.
Keiron Solomon, captain of Future Stars, declared that his team’s opponent lack the experience to prevail in the matchup.
“With all the other big teams out, it is a wonderful opportunity for us to win another title,” he declared.
“We have very good talented players and I am confident that we will come out on top especially with players such as Jamal Cozier, Lennox Cort, Kevin Cummings and Jermaine Junior along with me in our lineup,” he added.
Although they possess several notable attacking players, Future Stars have been a defensive ‘guru’ throughout the campaign with only one goal conceded in six matches, a record that is unmatched in recent memory.
This approach helped them secure wins against Showstoppers, North Ruimveldt, Pike Street Sophia and Leopold Street. Offensively, Future Stars has tallied five goals with Solomon and Jermaine Beckles scoring twice and Jamal Cozier once.
Meanwhile, Ol Skool Ballers captain Julian Masdammer said: “The guys have shown character and discipline during every game and while we know it is a big challenge for us we are prepared for it and hopefully we can go all the way.”
He urged all the supporters and residents of the Albousytown area to come out and wear white in support of the team, as they aim to secure a championship for the village.
The Ballers have been the revelation of the championship, brushing aside all pretenders with relative ease. Their list of victims includes former champions in the Street Football Circuit.
Back Circle, Sparta Boss, Albousytown-A, Broad Street and Albousytown-B have fallen to the relentless attacking pressure of the Ballers. The wins resulted in 13 goals being scored, one behind the tourney’s best record owned by Leopold Street.
Joel McGarrell is the event’s breakout star with five goals followed by the dynamic Roy Cassou with four goals.
Goals have also come off the boots of Darrel Quallis, Fabian Crawford and Quason McAulay with two, one and one conversion each, in the process providing the Ballers unit with further scoring threats.
Despite their offensive mindedness, the Albouystown based unit has only conceded four times, earning them the moniker of the tournament’s most balanced team.
Prior to the commencement of the final, East Ruimveldt giant Back Circle led by the evergreen Andy Duke, will oppose traditional giant Leopold Street and the duo of Okeene Fraser and Omallo Williams, in the always high scoring third place playoff at 22:00hrs.
The evening’s action will commence at 20:00hrs with four exhibition matches. The winners of the historic event will receive $400,000 and the championship trophy. The runner-up will pocket $200,000 and the respective trophy while the third and fourth placed finishers will collect $100,000 and $50,000 respective and a trophy. On the individual side, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) will receive a gold chain from YK Investments and Pawn Shop and the respective accolade from Trophy Stall Bourda.
The complete list of the event sponsors are Star Party Rentals, Faye Joseph, Claude Geddes Recreational Sports Club, National Sports Commission, Windjammer International Hotel & Cuisine, E-Networks, Woodpecker Trophies & Sport, Y.K Investments & Pawn Shop, Henry Chase, Jai Signs, Trophy Stall, the Bike Shop and John Fernandes Ltd.
