While Dwight Peters stitched in a goal in the 60th minute, his team’s many missed chances and constant turnovers marred Alpha’s performance and goal line that read 1-0 at the end of the game. Alpha’s sharpshooter Edison Gomes fought hard in the box but had a left foot shot and a header saved by Seawall’s custodian after being fed well by playmaker Shawn Bishop.
The two teams continued and it was evident that ‘The Hammer’ had a more strategic plan of attack as Seawall also was guilty of turning over the ball too much. Seawall had few shots on goal and the ones that Alpha United had most times went wide or over the framework.
The first half ended without any team converting their chances. The second half was turning out to be a carbon copy of the first half until Seawall found a rhythm and started to hold on to the ball a bit more attacked back half of the defending champions.
However, when the Seawall forwards got into the box they squandered every opportunity with a bad pass or a turnover much to the disapproval of the sprinkling of spectators. Alpha settled and started their attack before Peters changed the score line 15 minutes into the second half. Subsequently, the teams shared the possession of the ball before the final whistle.
In the curtain raiser, last year’s second place finishers Guyana Defence Force (GDF) tainted the sheen of Bartica’s Liquid Gold 1-0. In the game both teams played to a goalless first half with GDF showing their strength as one of the top teams in the tournament and to emerge out of the first round among the top four teams.
Eventually, in the 79th minute Stellon David netted the goal that would separate the teams at the end of regulation time.
