MCY&S East Bank Inter-Village football set to resume with quarter-finals looming

It will be all to play for when the inaugural Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCY&S) East Bank Inter-Village Football Tournament, organised by Sports Extra, resumes on Thursday night (April 16) at the Eccles EE Ground with the penultimate day of group action.

When play was halted due to unusual rainfall, only Grove and Upper Soesdyke among the 12 teams had sealed their places in the ‘final eight’ where the knockout format will kick in following round-robin play.

Group B play will get action underway on Thursday evening from 19:00h when Swan face off with Lower Soesdyke in a high stakes clash. Lower Soesdyke is in a must-win situation, having lost their lone match so far to Herstelling, who lost their second and final group match to Swan.

A win for Swan will seal their quarter-final spot and will also ensure Herstelling’s passage to the knockout round. However, a Lower Soesdyke victory will then see the goals for and against coming into play to determine the top two teams from the group who will advance.

The feature game is a Group A encounter between the undefeated Kuru Kururu and Mocha, who will have to win in order to have a chance of knocking out Agricola, who defeated Mocha but lost to Kuru Kururu.

Mocha will have to draw on all their experience and hope that the lads from the Soesdyke Linden Highway based Kuru Kururu have a bad night to stand a chance of advancing. Kuru Kururu defied the odds in the competitions opening game to brush aside Agricola 3-1.

When on the ropes, Agricola battled their way to a 3-1 triumph against Mocha which has now set up an interesting final match-up in the group.

The final two group matches which will then determine the quarter-final fixtures will be on Saturday at the same venue.

Friendship, who edged Kaneville in their opening clash, will be seeking to maintain that form when they oppose Timehri, who was stunned by Kaneville.

This will be another high-stake showdown as a win for Friendship will seal their onward march whilst securing Kaneville’s.

On the other hand, a victory for Timehri will see goals coming into play to decide the top two villages.

The final round-robin match will feature Grove against Upper Soesdyke in a battle to decide which of these two villages will top Group C as they both defeated Circuitville by 7-2 and 1-0 margins, respectively.

In the knockout phase, the winner of Group A will face the runner-up of Group C, winner of Group B will take on the runner-up of Group A, winner of Group C will face off with the runner-up of Group D, with the Group D winner matching up against the runner-up of Group B.

Villagers are encouraged to come out in their numbers to cheer on their respective villages.

The first prize is set at G$1million, while second, third and fourth prizes are G$500,000, G$250,000 and G$150,000 respectively, along with individual accolades for Best Goalkeeper, Most Valuable Player and Highest Goalscorer.

The tournament has received support to date from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Housing, National Sports Commission, Fitness Express, Bounty Farm Ltd and Star Rental.