By Treiston Joseph
Devon Millington put on a performance for football fans at the Georgetown Football Club ground on Sunday evening when his hat-trick helped the Western Tigers to qualify for the final of Limacol Football Tournament.
It was perhaps the most thrilling night of the tournament to date and Millington was definitely the star as his triple strike handed Western Tigers a 3-2 win against Santos FC. High energy with both teams searching for goals, Santos FC capitalised on the poor clearance from Western Tigers and Ryan October drilled home the game’s first goal with a volley in the 26th minute.
After a brief period where both teams exchanged possession and had opportunities to score, Millington receives a well place through ball and rocked the back of the net for his first goal in the 40th minute to end the first half with both teams knotted one-all. Millington then made a crucial mistake by heading the ball into the net for an own goal, giving Santos the lead in the 52nd minute of the match.
However, two minutes later, he made amends with a massive right foot shot that simply could not be stopped, as Western Tigers equalised. Millington then closed the match in the 58th minute with an easy tap in after getting the better of Santos’ custodian in a one-on-one situation.
Millington noted that the team played as a unit, and it was a win that the squad definitely “deserved”. He highlighted that the team will be ready for the final against Police. Coach of the Western Tiger unit, Calvin Allen, also pinpointed that the squad will now turn their attention to the lawmen.
“We will have a recovery day and then look at Police, they are playing as a unit and I got to watch them and they are using a similar style to when we played them in the Mayor’s Cup and in the Nation’s Cup, they are a robust bunch but we will come ready for the final,” Allen noted.
Meanwhile, Police topped Winners Connection 2-1 to advance to the final. The Police Force scored the opening goal in the 25th minute through a well placed shot by Junior Gordon that ended the first half 1-nil. Winners Connection in the second half were able to equalise in the 68th minute through a goal by Allon Garrett, but Lerone Charles’ 85th minute goal was the game sealer.
The final night of action will be Saturday, with games starting at 19:00h at the Georgetown Football Club ground.
