Story and photos by Jemima Holmes
You can always tell the quality of the football game by the scorecard at the end. Often the hardest and most entertaining games are those that go all out to extra time and penalties, or those that see a goal in the dying minutes.
Yes, games with a 7-0 edge are charming, but there’s something about the teams and fans bursting with joy in scoring one goal after biting their nails nervously when missed opportunities went begging.
This is the case on Friday night at the National Stadium, Providence, as the Linden All Stars and the Georgetown All Stars lock horns in the final of the Bounce back to Football Classic.
The New Year’s finale not only brought a dose of football to its patient fans, but also created a platform for players to stretch their legs in front of a packed international calendar for the Guyana Senior Men’s National Team.
Although it was clear that the players were out of competition competing for only about 10 months, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the last star-studded encounter looked like school football at first, slothful and slow to start.
The momentum grew midway through in the first segment, but by the looks of it, all attackers were having a day off, as their finish lacked skill. However, much credit should be given to goalkeepers Alex Murray and Sese Norville, who, along with their respective defenses, kept any attempt at goal.
Rain came and went, and yet a handful of spectators and personal officials did not see a goal as the remaining minutes of the first half passed.
Operating time
In Tuesday’s game against the West Demerara All Stars, Daniel Anthony sank a great freekick to grab Georgetown’s winning goal. At the start of the second half on Friday, Captain Georgetown attempted a similar shot, and was barely punched by Sese Norville.
This seemed to be a wake-up call for Linden, as those increased their urgency toward the goal.
Abumuchi Benjamin and Jermain Junor set up rent-free accommodation within the 18-yard box, and had much chance to sink a goal, but their knock on the door of the promised land was not answered at every attempt.
Meanwhile, Nicholas McArthur and Dorwin George had suffered a similar fate, their inability to find the back of the net growing with each play that passed.
The flag, vol!
Whether it was a case of an unfurled flag or the umpire making a conscious decision that it was not good enough to call a foul, only Sherlock Holmes could tell, but Georgetown soon saw their saving grace develop.
In direct order, a player dropped, rolled, and the lineman quickly shot his flag into the air, waving vigorously; but, to Linden’s disappointment, the whistle never sounded delayed while playing, and with the opposition in tow, Kelsay Benjamin Houdini played with the ball, escaping the nearest defender, Colin Nelson.
Instead of going straight ahead, Benjamin decapitated Nelson in the corner, and took the ball wide before trying to hit it to goal.
Norville, who was impeccable with the gloves until this moment, slipped and the ball went through, unharmed to the net for the only goal of the game in the 69th. While the goal was accomplished by a shirt ripped from Benjamin and cheers from the Georgetown support team, Linden pleaded and pleaded with the umpire, but the deed was done.
Afterwards, Linden ruled possession as they scampered to find the equalization goal, but each shot went to the nets high and wide.
Obviously having a night off, Benjamin’s substitute came a little too late, with his replacement showing more promise in front of goal than his predecessor.
Linden’s most unique opportunity to equalize came when a corner was given and the kick was signed over the top of the players collected outside the net. Looking like he would sail in, he diverted the ball midair and, instead of making his way into the nets, hit the crossbar and bounced just outside the goal line.
Minutes later, another opportunity to kick a corner came just as close, but again Alex Murray showed his brilliance in the net, keeping Linden’s goal at bay.
The final whistle finally sounded, heads bowed, some in disappointment and some in silent prayers of thanksgiving; but the result was that the Capital team would take home the trophy sponsored by the Trophy Stand.
For his final heroes, Kelsey Benjamin was awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), while Abumuchi Benjamin and Nicholas Mc Arthur shared the largest trophy of goals for their two goals and apiece scored over the two-day tournament.
In the end, Norville still walked away with the prizes for the best save and the best goalkeeper.
The Champions, Georgetown, received a $ 1M trophy, medals and cash prize, while runner-up Linden settled for $ 500,000.
Sponsors of the tournament included, ExxonMobil, KFC, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Tiger Rentals, Trophy Stall and Ground Structures Engineering Inc.