The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was crowned the MVP Sports Women’s Developmental League champion, defeating Fruta Conquerors 1-0 in the final on Wednesday evening at the Eve Leary Sports Club ground.
GDF women played a strong attacking game, breaking through Fruta Conquerors FC’s defence to win the championship match 3-1, just before midnight at the Eve Leary Sports Ground.
Their supporters cheered loudly throughout the game and to the beat of drums after the final whistle.
The first goal of the night was an own goal by Fruta Conquerors FC’s Jessica Teasdale just six minutes into the game.
Teasdale equalised the score with a thrilling penalty in the 22nd minute of the first half. But the second half went to Guyana Defence Force with two amazing goals by Abioce Heywood (74th) and Cloetta Dublin (91st).
“We’re very happy about the win. We came into this game playing very hard. Our way forward today is for the next league, we’ll go back on the field and keep on working hard to come again and win again next year,” shared an excited Guyana Defence Force FC centre-back and captain Cloetta Dublin.
Fruta Conquerors’ striker Teasdale in her after-game interview said it was ” a tough loss. It’s obviously not what we wanted, it’s not what we planned, but we gotta go back to the drawing board…look at our mistakes, regroup and then reassess in training.”
Earlier in the evening, Guyana Police Force Football Club dominated the third-place match against Pakuri Jaguars Football Club with a final score of 8-0.
They took the lead 20 minutes into the game with a well-placed goal from striker Fiona Benjamin. She went on to score two more goals – the second in the second half at the 51st minute and the last goal in the 56th minute.
Rounding up the night’s goals were Lakeisha Williams with three goals (21st, 47th, 48th), and one apiece from Tiandi Smith (40th) and Shontel Greene (63rd).
The winning team was in total command of the match from start to finish, executing a strong attacking strategy, and preventing the visiting team from scoring.
Guyana Police Force FC Captain Collette Rutherford said she was a bit disappointed that her team did not play in the championship match, but “that’s the game in football, you win some, you lose some. We paid for our mistakes so we have to…go back to the drawing board and come back stronger.”
Pakuri Jaguars FC captain Britney Poonsammy added: “It feels great to actually be fourth in the tournament. It’s an experience for my team. I know my team has (given) the opponent…a challenge and hopefully next year we’ll be working hard in order to build our stamina, the speed of our team and to be more aggressive.”
The league’s playoff featured 12 clubs from across Guyana – Fruta Conquerors FC, Guyana Police Force FC, Guyana Defence Force FC, Pakuri Jaguars FC, Bartica All Stars FC, Potaro Strikers FC, Essequibo All Stars FC, Foxy Ladies FC, Milerock FC, Coomacka FC, New Amsterdam United FC and Santos FC. (GFF)
