Unbeaten, East Coast clinch championship

IN a sizzling display , Swag Entertainment grabbed their third Linden Guinness Greatest in the Streets football title as the ninth tournament ended on Saturday evening.

Swag won, 2-1, against Universal Ballers in the final of the tournament at the Mackenzie Market Tarmac in Linden.

In front of a huge partying crowd which graced the venue , Swag , led by the Most Valuable Player Colwyn Drakes, rebounded from an early setback

Universal Ballers , through Mortimer Giddings , led 1-0 after five minutes of the final

It was one that stunned the Christianburg - based crowd favourites who were seeking to defend their two-time crown

Urged on by the dazzling speed of Deon Charter, the acrobatic J Charter produced a superb equalizing goal scored in the ninth minute of the game

Swag Entertainment would soon take the lead for good , courtesy of Drakes in the 13th minute, and the crowd went into a frenzied celebration

Along with their third straight crown, the Swag unit picked up $ 400,000 cash first, with Universal Ballers settling for second and $300,000 and a Trophy

Third place was won by Anybody Got It , who won against Speightland, 4-3, on penalty kicks, after there was a scoreless regulation play period

Anybody Got It pocketed $150,000 and a trophy , with the losers receiving $80,000

By Calvin Chapman

THE dust settled on the first - ever Tiger Rentals under-13 League Cup Championship football tournament yesterday at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)’s National Training Centre (NTC) at Providence, with favourites East Demerara living up to their hype and emerging victorious

East Coast defeated Bartica in the final, 1-0, due to an own goal, but it was the heroics of the Region 7 goalkeeper, Zico DosSantos, who eventually was named Goalkeeper-of-the-Tournament, that ensured the score remained 1-0

The Anthony Benfield-coached East Coast side was way more organised in defence, and coordinated in their attack, with most offensive plays coming through the wings.

East Coast followed up their win in the National League with this success in the League Cup to erase any doubts about their superiority

In fact, East Coast won every match played in the two tournaments, with the exception of a lone draw during the National League

During an invited comment with the Guyana Chronicle following yesterday’s win, Head Coach of East Coast, Anthony Benfield said, “I am very proud of my team; they did themselves and the coaching staff proud They followed the gameplan and got the success; I am excited to see these players’ development in the years to come They are the future of Guyana’s football.”

Tyrel Walcott , who was awarded Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) of the tournament , was pivotal to East Demerara ’ s triumph in the League Cup, while his teammate was recognised as one of four exciting prospects West Demerara’s David Dacosta, Adrian Samuels of the Berbice Football Association, and Jonathon Rodriques of Essequibo were the other three players identified

Rupununi won the third - place playoff against Georgetown, 3-1, with Joao Hamlet spearheading the victory with a hattrick, while Travis Grogan scored the consolation for Georgetown. Hamlet’s hattrick took him to 10 goals in the League Cup tournament, which was enough to see him cart off the highest goal-scorer trophy

The standings for the League Cup, from fifth to 10th, are as follows: Upper Demerara, East Bank, West Berbice, East Berbice, Essequibo and West Demerara.