Backed by ENet, Region 10 had to settle for a share of points in their opening match of the One Guyana President’s Cup at the National Track and Field Facility, West Coast Demerara, on Wednesday evening.
The lads from Upper Demerara-Berbice had the match in the bag until the 90th minute when Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) levelled the scores 3-3.
The other match of the night saw the formidable Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) dispatch Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) 6-1.
Region 10 dropped behind from as early as the eighth minute with Delroy Fraser converting the penalty after a needless foul in the box by the men in orange.
The defensive lapses were on both sides of the field as an own goal from Ntini Bobb (30th) levelled proceedings. Sixteen minutes later, Donavan Francis had his first of two goals to give Region 10 a 2-1 cushion at half-time.
Francis would extend the lead in the second stanza, however, their center-backs continued to allow Region Five’s forwards to move them out of position, creating greater pockets of space for goal-scoring opportunities.
Olvis Mitchell scored the second goal for Region Five in the 55th minute, while Abvmchi Benjamin latched on to another unguarded ball in the box to equalise on the stroke of full time, much to the frustration of the sizeable gathering of support for Region 10 in the stands.
Meanwhile, Region Four, who have in their stocks numerous national players at both the senior and junior levels, got their campaign off to a winning start.
Kelsey Benjamin scored in the first minute of the match and the goals kept coming as Ryan Hackett made it 2-0 three minutes later.
Omari Glasgow made it 3-0 in the 18th and Colin Nelson extended the dominance with a goal in the 20th, while Hackett got another in the 35th.
The joy for Region Seven was when Glasgow scored an own goal in the 41st, but he quickly made amends by scoring in the first minute of injury time as the game was done and dusted by the end of the first half.
The tournament will continue on Friday (December 16) with Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) up against Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) from 18:00h, followed by Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) from 20:30h.
