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Thousands witness Plaisance crowned East Coast champs
Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal Competition
By Rawle Welch
It has already been deemed a phenomenal creation in Guyana that has been hugely embraced by many other regional countries and expected to be similarly accepted internationally, but the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal Extravaganza continues to astound Organisers, players and fans alike.
A member of the Plaisance team on the attack in their clash against Victoria’s Church Yard United in the final of the East Coast segment of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ which ended on Saturday, at the Haslington Market Tarmac.
Saturday’s final of the East Coast segment of the planned nationwide competition which was played at the Haslington Market Tarmac provided ample evidence of the alarming popularity that this unparalleled event has attracted with thousands of spectators taking advantage of every available vantage point to witness the conclusion of the exciting Futsal format.
At the end of competition which finished after midnight, Plaisance’s leading marksman Warren Gilkes’ screaming thunderbolt, which was delivered from just over the half line, broke the deadlock between them and Church Yard United of Victoria in what was definitely the most exciting game of the night.
In the playoff for third place, the consistent BV ‘A’ overcame a game, but clearly exhausted Melanie by a 1-0 margin with Reon Hopkinson’s 9th minute effort, being the only goal of the game.
Earlier, in the first semi-final matchup, Plaisance beat BV ‘ A’ 2-1 with Kester Green and Gilkes netting in the 9th and 11th minutes respectively, while Delroy Deen’s 6th minute strike had given BV ‘A’ the lead briefly.
In the second semi-final clash, Church Yard United of Victoria edged Melanie 1-0 courtesy of a solitary strike off the boot of Horace Graham which came in the 31st minute of a game that required extra time.
Shortly after witnessing a gripping third place encounter, supporters of the two finalists braced themselves for what was understandably anticipated to be an enthralling contest and they were not disappointed as the two combatants engaged each other in a predicted slugfest.
Plaisance preferred to keep possession and looked quite efficient knocking the ball around, while Church Yard United pressed for the early ascendancy, but admirable defending proved to be the winner in the opening period.
In the second half, Plaisance scored two minutes after the resumption when Gilkes fortuitously off a goalmouth scrimmage much to the delight of his supporters and dismay to the opposition’s camp.
However, instead of being buoyed by their good fortune, Plaisance uncharacteristically went on the defensive and in trying to protect their slim lead conceded a goal when Kearon Simon pierced the defence with a fierce shot from close range and it was pandemonium after then as the battle for the title was well and truly on from that stage.
Simon’s effort came in the 22nd minute of regulation time. The frenetic pace continued, before Gilkes, collecting the ball off a sideline pass swiveled and in one motion fired a left-foot missile past a horde of defenders into the back of the opposition goal four minutes from full time.
Victoria Church Yard attacked with menace and had some close shaves at scoring, but Plaisance held on tenaciously until the final whistle sounded in relief to them, but agony to their opponents.
For the win, the inaugural champs took home $400,000, runners-up Victoria Church Yard $200,000, 3rd placed BV ‘A’ $100,000 and Melanie $50,000. All the teams also received trophies.
Both Plaisance and Victoria Church Yard move on to represent the East Coast in the national finals set for sometime shortly.
Meanwhile, the final had in attendance Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste, Banks DIH representative Clive Pellew and Co-Directors of the Petra Organisation Marlan Cole and Troy Mendonca.
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