North East La Penitence will face off against Back Circle in the final of the inaugural ‘Georgetown versus the Rest’ Street-ball championship following semi-final wins on Thursday evening.
Staged at the Back Circle Tarmac in East Ruimveldt, the home side defeated the Lodge All-Stars 2-1. Simeon Moore gave the home side the lead in the ninth minute with a first-time strike from the left side of the field, which sailed through the legs of the final defender and settled into the back of the net.
Moore then made his presence felt once more in the 13th minute, doubling his team’s lead with a back-heeled shot from outside the left of the penalty area that rolled into the left corner.
The score remained unchanged heading into the halftime interval. Upon the resumption, Lodge would be awarded penalty kicks owing to the accumulation of fouls.
However, Trevon Calendar missed from a distance, rolling his effort wide of the left corner in the 19th minute. Lodge would eventually reduce the deficit in the 24th minute as Carl Higgins slotted past the onrushing final defender into the right corner from the left side of the field.
On the other hand, North East La Penitence squeaked past Gold Money 4-3 on sudden death penalty kicks after full time ended scoreless.
Stephon Jupiter converted for Gold is Money, while Akil Plass equalised for North East La Penitence to end the first round. The score then ballooned to 2-2 as both teams converted from a distance in the second round.
Hubert Pedro netted for Gold is Money to start the third round, only for Lennox Cort to equalise for North East La Penitence to push the score to 3-3. Gold is Money would then seal their own defeat as Randolph Wagner missed from the distance, firing his effort wide of the right corner.
Samuel Hunte then sealed the result as he converted to ignite wild celebrations on the field. The winner of the event will pocket $400,000 and the championship trophy, while the second, third, and fourth-place finishers will walk away with $200,000, $100,000, and $50,000, respectively. On the individual side, the eventual Most Valuable Player (MVP) will ride away with a motorcycle.
