Sparta Boss, N/Ruimveldt, West Front Road among teams into Round of 16

Apr 23, 2015 Sports

Busta Soft Shoe Football Competition…

-Action resumes tonight
Sparta Boss, Alexander Village, West Front Road, Queen Street Tiger Bay, North

Part of the action on Tuesday night in the Busta Soft Shoe Football Competition.

East La Penitence, Broad Street, Cross Street, West Back Road, Albouystown, Bent Street, Ballers, Sophia, North Ruimveldt, Globe Yard, Festival City and Kitty Weavers became the teams advancing to the round of sixteen stage of the Busta Soft Shoe Football Competition which continued on Tuesday evening, at the GFC ground.
Among the teams exiting the tournament were Back Circle and Holmes Street who suffered defeats against their opponents North Ruimveldt and North East La Penitence respectively.
With just a draw needed to secure a last 16 berth Back Circle succumbed to North Ruimveldt by a 2-1 margin to make a disappointing departure, while Holmes Street dogged fight in their clash against North East La Penitence ended in an emotional 3-2 loss.
In the Back Circle versus North Ruimveldt matchup, the former fell behind in the 10th minute when Nickosie Barker blasted his effort into the roof of the goal from the right side.
However, Devon Harris gained the equaliser in the 18th minute after receiving a pass from just about the halfway line, before placing his shot to the left of the goalkeeper.
Two minutes before full time, the experienced Gerald Grittens delivered a piercing shot that eluded at least three players, before landing into the right side of the goal which gave them the lead, an advantage that they held until the final whistle sounded.
The highly anticipated clash between tournament favourites Sparta Boss and Alexander Village for the top spot in group-B lived up to expectations as they two teams battled end to end, before the former prevailed 3-2.
Sheldon Holder got things started for Sparta Boss when his cracking right-footer produced a weak save from the keeper, before trickling over the goalline in the 9th minute.
Leon Yaw, who has seen little action so far in the competition, then announced his presence in the 16th minute, firing into the left side of the goal to signal that a battle was really on.
Shepherd then reclaimed the lead for his side when he pierced the keeper from close range for a 2-1 scoreline five minutes later.
The prolific Denis Edwards, who netted a brace in their previous encounter, gave them a two-goal cushion after rifling home from just inside the penalty area one minute later.
The deficit was cut to one through a 24th minute strike from Shem Porter as the Village attacked with menace, but the final whistle gave Sparta Boss the right to the top spot in the Group.
West Front Road-Gold is Money and Queen Street Tiger Bay brawled to a 1-1 draw. Hubert Pedro was the player on target for West Front Road after fourteen minutes, scoring what many observers believe rank as one of the best goals of the tournament.
Collecting the ball just inside his own area, Pedro weaved past two tackles, before belting a screamer past the hapless keeper. It was a strike of pure class.
Queen Street’s response would come through their mercurial striker Deon Alfred whose stinging effort produced a feeble save from the goalkeeper, before bubbling over the line in the 19th minute.
In the other results, North East La Penitence beat Holmes Street Tigerbay 3-2. Shaquille Brown recorded a double in the 1st and 12th minutes, while Omari Wilson’s 19th minute strike completed their tally.
Jahaal Greaves and Joel Bond in the 10th and 23rd minutes respectively responded for Holmes Street.
Earlier, Sophia and Durban Street played to a 2-2 draw in the evening’s opener.
Dwayne Lowe continued his fine form with a brace for Sophia in the 4th and 12th minutes, while Jermaine Gilbert and Quincy Ashby responded for Durban Street in the 23rd and 30th minutes respectively.
California Square and Charlestown battled to a 3-3 stalemate. Dillon Kelly netted a double for California Square in the 8th and 12th minutes, while Nash Moe scored in the 15th minute.
For Charlestown, Troy Heyliger (5th), Shane Morris (6th) and Andrew Gibson (25th) were the marksmen respectively.
Action in the round of 16 is set to start today at the same venue.
In the opening matchup at 20:45hrs, Cross Street square off against Alexander Village and that will be followed by the clash between Ballerz and Queen Street Tiger Bay from 21:30hrs.
In the final two games of the night, West Front Road collide with North East La Penitence from 22:15hrs, while Festival City and Albouystown battle in the feature contest at 23:00hrs.
The winning team will take home the championship trophy and $600,000, while the second, third and fourth placed finishers cart off $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively along with trophies.
The Most Valuable player collects $50,000, Most Disciplined team $25,000 and the respective group winners $25,000.
The second, third and fourth placed finishers within the groups will receive $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
Apart from the Guyana Beverages Inc, who is the Platinum sponsor, some of the other entities on board are: Lucky Dollar, GT&T, Star Party Rentals, Nigel’s Supermarket, 2Js General Store and Mendonca Creole.