Guinness Streetball: Sparta, Gold is Money progress to group stage

The final 16 has been decided for the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship after two exhilarating nights of action at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac and Burnham Court at the weekend.

Among the lot are defending champions Gold is Money, who triumphed over Globe Yard 3-0 via strikes from Jermin Junior (13th) and a Guinness Goal (any goal scored in the final three minutes counts as two) from Michael Pedro (17th).

Crowd favourites Sparta Boss won by an identical margin over Judgment Yard with Ryan Hackett scoring in the 15th and 19th.

Jimmy Gravesande’s strike in the 19th minute helped Broad Street edge Kingston 4-3. Nigel Denny had placed Kingston ahead in the third minute, but two minutes later the scores were levelled via Ryan Dowding.

Akeem Sam in the 12th placed Broad Street in the lead only to see Denny put Kingston on the brink of victory until the heroics of Gravesande.

Albouystown B won 3-0 over Berlin via goals from Moses Gittens (4th) and Melvorn Ross (18th), while the usually formidable Bent Street were boosted by Charlotte Street. Ron Abrams strike in the seventh was the lone difference.

The other teams to seal their spot in the group stage are: Rising Stars, Sophia, Future Stars, Leopold Street, Queen Street Tiger Bay, Back Circle, Stabroek Ballers, Alexander Village, John Street, Albouystown A and LA Ballers.

Action will resume on Friday (July 19) at the National Cultural Centre Tarmac from 19:00h.

The group round will be played over three nights, with the top two finishers from each section advancing to the quarter-final and subsequent semi-final round.

The eight teams which fail to advance from the group round will compete in the Guinness Plate Championship.

First place will cop $500,000, second $300,000, third $200,000 and fourth $100,000, while the winner of the Plate championship will receive $100,000.

The overall winner will automatically seal their place in the National Championship in August.

To date, Beacons [Bartica Champion], Melanie-B [East Coast Demerara winner], Brothers United [West Demerara/East Bank Demerara winner], Trafalgar [Berbice champion] and High Rollers [Linden champion] are the teams to have secured automatic berths to the national championship.