Platinum Gulley Side Warriors are I Movement/BFA Super 8 champions

Dec 01, 2008 Sports

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Platinum Gulley Side Warriors won the I Movement Promotions/Bartica Football Association Super 8 championship after capturing the final 2-1 in a close battle against Mighty Rulers at the Bartica Community Centre ground on Friday night.

Anthony Abrams fired home a double for the winners, while Andrew Murray had put Mighty Rulers ahead with the lone goal for his team.

Unknown Warriors pummeled Klassic Super Stars 6-1 in the third place playoff.
Given the hype, and with the players known to each other the game turned out to be an exciting and keenly contested finale to a well run tournament.

Starved for over two years based on reports from several members of the Bartica community, fans came out in their numbers to watch the tournament and the final and they were not disappointed.

Rulers held the early advantage, creating several scoring opportunities that eventually went a begging. This trend went on into the second period.

About 20 minutes into the second stanza Mighty Rulers pressed in attack and off of a set piece Andrew Murray collected a decent pass inside the box to clinically finish and put his team in ascendency.

This seemed to awaken Gulley Side, who began to push forward with more urgency and they slowly gained the momentum they needed.  They gradually seized control of the contest putting together decent plays that edged them closer to their objective.

That mark was attained when one such play saw Dexter Blake powering down the wing to provide an accurate aerial cross to Anthony Abrams, who drilled a header past the Mighty Rulers custodian to draw level on the score sheet.

The action see sawed between the two teams, but the Gulley Side were the hungrier and it showed.  Mighty Rulers attacked as they looked for the go ahead goal and were caught lapsing at their back line, throwing too many men up front.

Gulley Side put together an excellent counterattack when central midfielder Eon Gomes collected off of a clearance and lobbed a pass into the path of the waiting Abrams, who saw the opportunity and was streaking up field into the opponents half.  He collected skillfully, advanced and directed his shot to the far post, out of reach of the advancing goalkeeper to give his team what turned out to be the lead for good.

The intense battle continued to the end but none of the pair were able to trouble the scorers.  Gulley Side Warriors collected $500,000 for their efforts, while Mighty Rulers received $100,000; both collected trophies.

Andrew Murray and Anthony Abrams ended as joint top goalscorers with eight apiece, however, Abrams claimed the US$100 prize for the most goals in the final, a prize put up by popular speed boat operator ‘Shabba’ of the Millennium Boat Service of Bartica.

National football coach, Wayne Dover, who coached Gulley Side to victory during this tournament, told Kaieteur Sport that the tournament was a success and he was impressed by the level of talent at Bartica.

When questioned, Dover admitted that he will make recommendations to the Guyana Football Federation in the future to look at these players when selecting national teams at the various levels. He noted that he was challenged and encouraged by the willingness of the youths there and plans to visit Bartica again to give whatever technical assistance he can.

Dover commended Promoter I Salam for staging an excellent and incident free tournament and the people, including the business community, of Bartica for their support.  So impressed was Dover that he related that on the opening night there was a problem with the lighting and fans waited for near two hours patiently to witness the games. 

Also the fence at the venue was not of the best for security reasons (being porous) but rather as is done in the city, where some patrons ‘pope’ the game, Barticians waited and paid to enter the venue and support the promotion.  This he noted was excellent and applauded the fans.

Promoter I Salam also expressed pleasure at the support and outcome of the event and disclosed that he has a super six tournament planned for the area starting December 19 and to conclude on Boxing Day, December 26.

Meanwhile, Wayne Heber of Platinum Hotel and Service Station, who sponsored the winner’s prize, pledged his support for future tournaments and disclosed that he will link with the promoter and find ways to expand the tournament to include other teams.

He noted that they did not see competitive football in Bartica for two years and was ready and happy to support when approached. 

Farida Khan, representative of Fredrick and Raffia McWilfred, who also sponsored this tournament, expressed pleasure at competitive football being staged there and their willingness to support.  She noted that they have supported sports and youths in the past and are always willing to invest in positive development.  (Claude David)

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