Fruta Conquerors are the champions of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) leg of the KFC Independence Cup Under-20 tournament. Their triumph came as a result of a splendid performance against Santos Football Club in the GFA final Saturday at the National Training Centre, Providence.
The favourites did not disappoint and laid down a strong marker ahead of the national playoffs by winning 3-1 against Santos.
Talented forward Nicholas McArthur was the first to etch his name on the score sheet just 16 minutes into play. Santos did not back down, as Ronaldo Rodrigues levelled the scores four minutes later.
Eleven minutes into the second-half Conquerors returned into the lead, compliments of Nicolai Andrews. Action motored along with both sides getting chances to add to their goal tally, but all went missing.
Two minutes into injury time (90+2), Rayvon Bayley made it three and the Santos knew their fate had been sealed.
Speaking after the match to News Room Sport, senior national player and FCFC captain Jeremey Garrett stated, “The team had a very good performance overall; I thought everyone executed great individually which helped us to come victorious. Collectively, the work that the coaches did with us made the players very cognisant of every aspect and they all delivered.”
“Looking ahead we will be taking it game by game looking to come out victorious… [we have to] work a bit more on our tactics and also strengthening our unit.”
Attention will now turn to the national playoffs for Fruta Conquerors and the other associations who would have finished their rounds.
The other association winners are: Botafogo FC (Upper Demerara Football Association), Pouderoyen FC (West Demerara Football Association), Buxton United (East Coast Demerara Association), New Amsterdam United (Berbice Football Association), Timehri Panthers (East Bank Football Association), Potaro Strikers (Bartica Football Association), Queenstown United (Essequibo Football Association) and Strikers FC (Rupununi Football Association).
First place will cop $500,000, second $300,000, third $200,000 and fourth a trophy. It is understood a draw will be held for the national playoffs on Tuesday (June 11). At the launch in April, it was noted the tournament gives the technical staff a chance to scout for talents for the upcoming CONCACAF Men’s Under-23 Olympic Qualifiers in July.
