The Guyana Police Force (GPF) and Pouderoyen clinched semi-final berths in the West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) ‘Commander Cup’, following hard-fought quarterfinal victories on Sunday evening at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
The lawmen arrested Crane 3-1. Darron Niles opened the scoring in the 12th minute for the GPF unit with a thunderous strike from 24 yards out which nestled into the left corner.
However, Alonzo Bowman equalised for Crane in the 25th minute. Awarded a penalty kick following a clumsy foul inside the 18-yard area, Bowman made no mistake from the distance and fired his effort into the right corner.
The score remained unchanged heading into the halftime interval. Nevertheless, two goals in the space of six minutes sealed the result for GPF. Pernell Schultz handed the officers a 2-1 advantage in the 65th minute, following a penalty kick conversion.
Keswin Fraser then sealed the outcome in the 71st minute, blasting a powerful shot from the top of the 18-yard box into the right corner of the net, after receiving a pass from the right side. Meanwhile, Pouderoyen squeaked past No. #1 All-Stars 2-1 in the earlier contest. It was a disjointed performance from Pouderoyen especially in the second half when they were guilty of spurning several chances.
The main culprits were Stephon Jupiter, Matthew Chidume, Daniel Abrams and Nicholas Jordan.
The fixture was effectively decided in the first half when all three conversions were recorded. Chidume opened the scoring in the 12th minute to give Pouderoyen the lead. Latching onto a cross from the right side, he slammed his effort into the left corner.
Pouderoyen’s lead lasted for only 12 minutes as Kevin Sparman restored parity to proceedings. Latching onto the ball which was parried into his path by the opposing goalkeeper, Sparman stabbed his effort under the body of the advancing goalkeeper.
However, Tiquan Taylor netted what proved to be the eventual winner in the 30th minute. Racing onto a firmly played forward pass, the speedy Taylor slide-tackled the ball past the opposing goalkeeper from inside the penalty area.
The semi-final section will occur on Saturday at the same venue. Pouderoyen will oppose the GPF outfit at 18:30hrs, whilst Slingerz FC will engage Den Amstel in the feature clash at 20:30hrs. The resulting winners will advance to the final on March 25th, with the losers contesting the third-place playoff.
The winner of the tournament will pocket $500,000 and the championship trophy, whilst the runner-up will receive $250,000 and the corresponding accolade. The third and fourth-place finishers will receive $150,000 and $100,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy
Complete Results
Game-1
Pouderoyen-2 vs No. #1 All-Stars-1
Pouderoyen scorers
Matthew Chidume-12th
Tiquan Taylor-30th
No. #1 All-Stars scorer
Kevin Sparman-24th
Game-2
GPF-3 vs Crane-1
GPF scorers
Darron Niles-12th
Pernell Schultz-65th
Keswin Fraser-71st
Crane scorer
Alonzo Bowman-25th
