Herstelling Raiders recorded their second draw in as many matches when they were held by Mocha Champs when play in the East Bank Football Association leg of the GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power U-17 League continued on Sunday morning with one match at the GFF Facility, Providence, EBD.
Mocha, took the lead in the 11th minute when Yohance Porter scored the first of his double to put Herstelling on the back foot but just before the half way mark, Daniel Lowe leveled the score with the first of his brace in the 34th minute.
Five minutes into the second half, Lowe was again in goal scoring mood when he converted to hand Herstelling the lead in the 40th minute. But as the minutes diminished and fulltime drew near, Porter ensured that Mocha left the pitch with an equal share of the points when he rocked the nets in the 66th minute.
When Herstelling had faced Diamond United on July 1st at the same venue, it was a similar situation where Diamond United scored in the closing minutes of the match to deny Herstelling full points.
This time around though, the match was a 4-4 humdinger between two young sides; Ronald Mohamed had handed Herstelling the lead in the ninth minute. Diamond United equalised in the 16th minute when Carlos Wilkie found the back of the nets.
Three minutes later, 12 year-old Shaquan Joseph sent Diamond into the lead when he scored the first of his two goals in the 19th minute. It was a 2-2 game in the 24th minute when Xavi Atkinson scored as the game was just about heating up.
Ronald Mohamed found the back of the nets again for Herstelling in the 27th minute to hand his team the lead again. It was even-stevens once more when Ronaldo Adams worked his way past the Herstelling defense before tucking his shot past the goal keeper to make the 3-3.
Shoran James placed Herstelling back into the lead for the third time in the match when he converted in the 42nd but that was not the end of the action as Diamond fired back in the 59th minute thanks to another Shaquan Joseph goal; both teams walking away with one point each from the encounter.
Meanwhile, given the prolonged rainy season which has rendered grounds unplayable and the fact that the GFF all-weather facility being the only facility in use for nationals teams and well as Regional Members Association’s, the EBFA is exploring the possibility of playing matches at the Timehri Red Ground.
