Pele FC crush Buxton Stars FC and advance as K&S Football extravaganza commences

Dec 18, 2012 Sports

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Pele’s strike trio, Konata Manning, Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant and Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson sent an ominous message to their detractors and in a clinical display of team work characterized by precision shooting, disposed of Buxton Stars FC when the curtains went up on the 23rd edition of the Kashif and Shanghai Football extravaganza at the Georgetown Football Club ground, Sunday evening last. The preliminary match between Amelia Ward and Mill Ballers saw the former team advancing after inflicting a 2 nil licking on the latter.

Richardson made his intentions known from the onset when he collected the ball around the middle of the field and skillfully maneuvered to the opposition’s goal but his efforts were foiled by the opposition’s strong defence cordon.
With the ball back in play, Manning advanced from his midfield position and in the 4th minute, collected a loose ball just in front of Buxton Stars goal mouth and made no mistake. The dapper striker featured again less than two minutes later when his free kick just outside the box, though commendable, failed to find any of his team mates.
The Buxtonians then raided Pele’s goal but was stopped by a strong defensive cordon comprising Dirk Archer, Quincy Adams, Keoma Gravesande and Mervin Liverpool. This did not stop Kwame Moffat who managed to break through Pele’s midfield cordon and thundered to the goal but his right footer merely succeeded in hitting the right goal post for the ‘keeper,’ Shemroy Arthur to retrieve.
The game progressed at a fast pace and when Richardson collected a pass in the 34th minute, swiveled and raced to the opposition’s goal, it looked like a sure success until he was stopped by what the referee deemed to be a dangerous tackle in the box and awarded Pele a penalty for Richardson to convert with relative ease. The persistent Richardson was like a thorn in the side of the opposition and shortly after the penalty, aimed for the opposition’s goal after evading their defence cordon.
There followed a goal scrimmage with both teams battling for possession. The East Coast based unit owed a debt of gratitude to Kennard Simon who managed to kick the ball to the left of the field, thwarting another catastrophe. The Pele strikers then turned up the heat when providence, or more appropriately, the Guyana Power and Light, intervened and cast the venue into darkness with about ten minutes to the half. When electricity was restored, some thirty minutes later, the battle continued with no further addition to the score at the interval.
Shortly after resumption, Richardson made his presence felt once again when he sprinted past the opposition’s defence in the 51st minute and with only the ‘keeper’ to contend with, tapped it gently to the right side of the goal.
In an attempt to change their fortunes, Buxton Stars called in Quesi Williams at the expense of Jamal George and shortly afterwards Sion Thomas intercepted a pass meant for Richardson. The dapper Pele striker relentlessly pressed on and forced a wayward kick from Thomas and the shot, meant for the goalkeeper to retrieve, settled in his own goal 66 minutes into the game. Richardson featured for the third time when he received a long pass, spun and scooped the ball over the head of Buxton Stars custodian, Ravin Choo in the 68th minute to push the game 5-0 and further out of the reach of the Buxtonians.
As the game entered its dying stages, Richardson and Travis Grant teamed up to weave circles around the Buxton Stars’ defence before the latter player tapped in the decider in the 89th minute and shortly before the final whistle brought some reprieve to the Buxton All Stars team.
The preliminary game between Amelia Ward and Mill Ballers was also a gem. The game started at a fast clip but both teams were experiencing difficulties due to a wet outfield after earlier showers had subsided. Both teams appeared evenly matched and spent most of the first session attempting to seize the initiative. Despite their best efforts that session ended at a nil all stalemate.
Keon Hall broke the monotony when he received a humdinger of a pass from his namesake, Keon Sears from his midfield position, and sent his team ahead in the 63rd minute. Hall also muffed an opportunity when he only had the goalie to contend with, shortly before Trenton Lashley struck five minutes later for the decisive goal. The Millballers’ strikers created good moves and a great build up but faltered terribly on the conversion.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Frank Anthony took the salute when the march past was staged just after the Millballers/Amelia Ward encounter. Acting President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Franklyn Wilson also shared the podium with the Minister along with Mayor Hamilton Greene, Government official, Odinga Lumumba and the principals of the K&S football organization. The general call for unity among the affiliates was echoed among these officials even as they urged the players to play within the confines of discipline and fair play.
The action continues tomorrow evening with another double header at the same venue. Timehri Panthers will tackle BV Triumph from 18:30hrs followed by the feature match between Buxton United and Winners Connection at 20:30hrs.

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