Defending champions Alpha United and Camptown secured victories over Santos and the Guyana Defence Force respectively when first round action of the Georgetown Football Association cell Link Plus, Premier League competition continued on Sunday at the Georegtwon Football Club (GFC) ground.
In the first game of the double header Alpha United defeated Santos by two goals to nil while Camptown edged GDF 1-0.
Alpha United’s first goal came in the 44th minute when Shawn Bishop capitalized on a loose ball that rebounded off of the defensive wall set up by Santos after an earlier free kick.
Though Alpha United held on to a lead of the slimmest of margins, their technical superiority made their lead unreachable for Santos.
Santos’ inability to effectively rotate the ball, led to the opening of many gaps in their defence, a weakness that was quickly identified and exploited perfectly by Alpha United.
This was just the case in the 65th minute and Kevin Smith wasted no time in converting from close range to double his team’s lead.
The expulsion of Quincy Madramootoo in the 85th minute for acquiring his second yellow card of the game reduced Alpha United’s squad to ten but this was no help to Santos as Alpha held unto their 2-0 lead until the end of regulation time.
Camptown’s Shawn Carter’s lone goal in the 40th minute proved to be enough to put GDF away in the second game.
The 2-0 victory has catapulted Alpha United into first place in the league’s point standings as they gain superiority over Western Tigers on goal difference since they both have 12 points.
Pele remains unbeaten to date and occupies third position with 11 points, the same as fourth place Fruta Conquerors who trail on goal difference.
In fifth position with nine points are Camptown, while Santos (8 points), the Guyana Defence Force (7 points) and the Guyana Police Force (4 points) occupy the next three places in that order.
Meanwhile, the GFA Division one Premier League continues today at 16:00hrs when fours teams duel in pairs at two different venues.
At the Camptown ground, Houston Stars will take on Thomas United while Beacon will meet Uprising at the Tucville ground. Tomorrow GFC will host Flamingo while U.G hosts Northern Rangers.