Goalie Thomas saves the day for Friendship

After the dust settled at the Golden Grove Community Centre ground, Golden Grove and Friendship emerged victorious from their semi-final matches in the inaugural 592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival on Sunday.

 The large crowd which descended on the venue was treated to a spectacle as Golden Grove battled past Beterverwagting (BV) 3-1. Following a scoreless first half, veteran forward Dwain Jacobs gave the hosts the lead in the 58th minute, latching onto a through pass before finishing clinically into the left corner to send the crowd into a frenzy.

 However, the response was equally swift and wildly celebrated by the BV faithful as Omari Glasgow scored in the 63rd minute, slotting past the goalkeeper after racing onto a through pass inside the penalty area. The home crowd would have to wait 10 minutes to celebrate once more when  Phillip Williams netted, thumping his effort into the roof of the left corner, after a deflected free-kick was parried onto the crossbar by the goalkeeper and fell into his path.

The venue would erupt once more as Dextroy Culpepper sealed the outcome in the 90th+1 minute, racing down the right flank following a swift counterattack, before blasting his effort into the lower left corner past the advancing goalkeeper.

 Meanwhile, Friendship overcame Paradise 3-1 on penalty kicks after regulation and extra time ended in a 1-1 result. The match was decided by goalkeeper Seon Thomas, who recorded three consecutive saves. Thomas made his presence felt to start the second round, denying his opponent with a diving save to his right. Friendship capitalized to take a 2-1 lead as they scored from the distance. It went from bad to worse as Thomas denied the third penalty taker to his right once more, allowing Friendship to score to take a 3-1 lead.

The result was then sealed as Thomas denied the third penalty kicker to his left in the fourth round. Before the eventual conclusion, E. Evans handed Paradise the lead in the 28th minute, only for Clive Andries to equalize in the 53rd minute.

Tournament coordinator Eon Havercome during a post-match comment said, “The tournament couldn’t have provided a better matchup for the final of the inaugural edition. We have witnessed tremendous football since the start and the competition has certainly exceeded all expectations with the support and quality on display every evening from players and spectators alike.”

He added, “Once again I expect the final to be a monumental evening, the two teams are the best of the lot and have displayed their championship credentials in the previous rounds so I expect the fans to be treated to a dramatic and exciting atmosphere on January 1st.”

The eventual champion of the event will pocket $500,000 and the championship trophy. On the other hand, the second, third and fourth place finisher will receive $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy.

 Similarly, individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player [MVP] of the tournament, the MVP of the finale, the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament and the Best Goalkeeper of the final.   Some of the major sponsors of the tournament include Bakewell Guyana Incorporated, ExxonMobil, the NSC, Flavours Boss and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.