As the group phase of the LIME Pelican Football Challenge competition nears completion, teams will have to approach their final games as if they were the difference between life and death.
With four teams from each zone qualifying for the knockout quarter-final round, Zone A has proven to be the more competitive with all six teams still in with a chance of making it to the quarter-finals.
Akademiks lead the group on seven points from their four matches, while Kick LG Strike Force, Emmerson Boyce/Fifth Avenue Bajan Elite, Indar Weir Travel Centre Top Bay Settlers and Broad Street Men’s and Women’s Red Tridents are close behind on six points.
Defending champions Tiger Malt Bajan Pride are last on four points.
A draw in their last match against Red Tridents would be enough for Akademiks to book their passage into the next round, but Bajan Pride will have to defeat Top Bay Settlers in order to progress, leaving LG Strike Force and Bajan Elite to battle for the remaining spot.
UFO Toyota Firehouse have taken firm control of Zone B having accumulated seven points in their three matches, and require just one point from their two remaining matches against All Stars and TS Strikers to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Both TS Strikers and 360 Connection have also positioned themselves to advance, with both teams on seven points as well, but with just one more game to play.
Tech4Less Scotty’s Combined All Stars, who are on four points, and Direct TV Red Snappers and Sportstown Galaxy, who are both on one point from their three games, will fight for the fourth and final qualification spot.
Tomorrow’s matchup at Kensington Oval between Red Snappers and Sportstown Galaxy at 7 p.m. will be a crucial one, because if that game ends in a draw and All Stars defeat or draw with Firehouse in the following encounter at 9 p.m., both the Snappers and Galaxy would almost surely be eliminated due to their inferior goal difference.
