SCORES of people lined the roadways last Sunday throughout West Demerara, to pay homage to Slingerz Football Club who won the third edition of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)/Banks Beer Cup.
Playing at the Guyana National Stadium on New Year’s Day (January 1), Slingerz FC edged Santos 3-2 to become the first team from the ‘West Side’ to ever win a major tournament.
The motorcade started from Wales and headed to Parika after which the mile-long line of vehicles all headed to the Vergenoegen Village rice mill tarmac where everyone gathered for a free concert by Guyana’s international reggae star Natural Black, along with Jumo and Super Ray one-man band.
“It’s good that we can bring the West Side people joy,” said an elated Dwayne Jacobs. The Slingerz FC captain pointed out “The good part is that we are not even a year old in the business and we like how people support our team. It makes us feel good about what we do and encourages us to play harder”.
Jacobs, a member of the Golden Jaguars, said that while the team is happy and still celebrating the victory with their fans, they are still far from accomplishing all they want to and as such, the Banks Cup victory is to simply let Guyana know that his club means business.
“This is not the end. As much as we (are) enjoying this feeling right now, we know that we have plenty work to do. The players, management, everybody understand that. We want to play in CONCACAF with all the top teams and this is a stepping stone.
“Many persons think that Slingerz is a now-come team and can’t last long but we will show them that we mean business and we are willing to work hard for more trophies,” Jacobs added.
Meanwhile, Slingerz FC awarded several players for their contribution to the club in the past year, showing their appreciation to their three guest players for the GFA/Banks Cup in winger Walter Moore along with strikers Jamal Harvey and Kevon Woodley.
Devon Millington, the team hero in the final, was awarded for scoring the most goal for the club in 2013 while former National youth captain and Jaguars defender Colin Nelson was voted the club’s MVP of the Banks Cup final.
Les-Charles Critchlow was named the most consistent player of the club and Joshua Brown copped both the Most Disciplined and Best Attendance awards.
Up next for Slingerz FC is their second West Side Cup which is set to start mid-February and features only the teams playing under the West Demerara Football Association.
(Rawle Toney)