There was an air of expectancy in the Providence National Stadium on Sunday night as BK Western Tigers squared off against Pele Gold in the much anticipated finals of inaugural Fastball competition.
From the opening whistle Pele Gold played attacking football and made their intentions clear that they wanted to take home the top prize. Western Tigers seemed content with playing a defensive game and counterattacking. This strategy proved to be their undoing however.
Pele created several early scoring opportunities with several shots going wide of the goal and testing the Western defense. A free shot awarded to Pele just cleared the top bar of the Western defended goal keeping the crowd excited.
The breakthrough however came after the”blue ball” was introduced into the game. The blue ball is probably the most distinctive aspect which separates fastball from regulation football. After 5 fouls are committed by any team the opposing team is awarded a six(6) seconds penalty. This is very crucial especially if the fifth foul is committed while the blue ball is in play since each goal is counted as two(2).
The relentless attack of Pele eventually paid off just a few minutes after the blue ball was called for. Player #11 Marvin Joseph made an attacking run down the left side then after some fancy footwork, beat two defenders at the top of the box and drilled the blue ball into the back of the net putting Pele up by two.
About two minutes after halftime Western Tigers looked a more spirited team if not desperate to undo the first half damage. It proved not enough however when Stellon David needled one off a rebound. That proved to be the final goal as Pele kept the ball in posession largely for the remainder of the game.
Travis Grant captain of the winning side related that his team practiced and worked hard to be the top side and that they “are proud to be the first fastball champs.” Pele took away $1M in cash along with free credit.
In the female finals Trophy Stall All Stars got the better of Eagles United out of Lethem 3-2. The All Stars won $100,000 plus credit.
Meanwhile Ronson Williams “dove” a skillful 1000+ to win half a million dollars compliments of GTT.
By – Andrew Ross
