Fruta Conquerors U20 and Pouderoyen will face-off in the semifinal round of the Turbo Energy Drink knockout football competition following lacklustre quarterfinal wins on Friday at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.
It was a laboured performance from the Tucville based unit, who edged Buxton Stars 3-2. In a first half which only featured one goal, Nicholas MacArthur handed Fruta Conquerors the lead in the 21st minute, rifling his effort into the lower left corner from inside the penalty box.
The second half started brightly for Tucville as Ryan Hackett doubled their lead in the 46th minute. It was a sublime finish from Hackett who volleyed a left-footed effort from outside the center of the box into the right hand corner.
However, two mistakes from the back line in the space of eight minutes allowed the East Coast Demerara outfit, Buxton Stars, to level proceedings. The first occurred in the 63rd minute as a simple back pass from defender Jeremy Garrett on the left side of the field, was miss-controlled by goalkeeper Joel Yhap, striking his leg in the process and settling into the left corner.
The second error occurred in the 71st minute, as defender Cecil Jackman in his attempt to shield the ball to safety inside the penalty box, lost possession, allowing the forward to simply pass to the onrushing Shemar Scott, who slotted home unchallenged inside the 18 yard box.
Nonetheless, Fruta Conquerors extinguished any hope of a Buxton come-from-behind win as substitute Osafo Simpson scored in the 88th minute. Receiving the ball outside the left of the penalty box, the lanky midfielder uncorked a powerful flat, right-foot strike which fizzed into the left hand corner.
Meanwhile, Pouderoyen battled past Buxton United U20 by a 6-5 scoreline on sudden death penalty kicks after regulation and extra time ended 1-1. The opening round of the shoot-out failed to decide the outcome as both teams were perfect from the distance to end at 5-5.
However, Pouderoyen goalkeeper Sherwin Bernard recorded a timely save to his left to seal his side’s place in the final four section, after the West Demerara unit had converted from the mark to take a 6-5 lead. Prior to the eventual conclusion, Pouderoyen took the lead in the 98th minute of extra time after both halves of regulation time failed to produce a conversion.
The goal emanated from captain Darrell Abrams, who directed his header into the right hand corner, after receiving a left sided cross unchallenged inside the six yard box.
Buxton would eventually level proceedings in the 106th minute under fortuitous circumstances. Goalkeeper Bernard was the guilty party as a regulation Troni Semple cross from the left flank, inexplicably bounced over his head and settled into the right hand corner, much to the disbelief of his teammates.
The second round of quarterfinal matches will take place today at the same venue. The first fixture will pit Riddim Squad against Northern Rangers at 19:00hrs while GFC will match skills with Santos at 21:00hrs in the feature contest.
Complete Results
Game-1
Pouderoyen-1 vs Buxton United u20-1
Pouderoyen won 6-5 on sudden death
penalty kicks
Pouderoyen Scorer
Darrell Abrams-98th
Buxton Scorer
Troni Semple-106th
Game-2
Fruta Conquerors-3 vs Buxton Stars-2
Fruta Scorers
Nicholas MacArthur-21st
Ryan Hackett-46th
Osafo Simpson-88th
Buxton Scorers
Own Goal-63rd
Shemar Scott-71st
