For the second year in succession Alpha United won a football tournament on New Year’s Day following last year’s victory in the annual Kashif and Shanghai tournament.
This year, `The Hammer’, who were not invited to the prestigious tournament after participating in a previous tournament sanctioned by the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) waltzed away three million dollars richer after defeating Fruta Conquerors in the final of the inaugural Banks Beer Cup knockout tournament Sunday evening at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.
The game which was witnessed by an overcrowded GFC ground ended 1-0 in favor of Alpha United who were not invited by the organizers to defend their title.
The game started slowly as both sides tested each other in midfield, searching for fluidity in the extremely damp and muddy conditions that held up the ball.
In the testing conditions the first real chance came in the 24th minute of the game not for United but for Conquerors.
A pass from the left wing into the box was squandered by the Conquerors striker whose finishing shot whizzed past the goalpost of Alpha United.
With the build up plays in midfield looking superb for both teams despite the conditions of the ground, Andrew Murray Jr., capitalized on a rebound to net a goal in the 27th minute.
The goal was however disallowed as Murray Jr., was adjudged to be offside by the referee as he was in front of the players before the shot was taken by his teammate.
Play was steady as both sides constantly lost the ball due to the damp conditions until the half time whistle.
When the action resumed in the second half both sides seemed intent on scoring which was evident by the teams’ aggressive approach.
Fruta Conquerors seemed the better team and more destined to score as they passed the ball well in the air out of the break, finding good runs on the wings.
But against the run of play it was Alpha United who were to score in the 71st minute after a scrimmage in the 18-yard box only to have the goal adjudged offside again.
However, two minutes later Murray Jr., capitalized to score in the 73rd minute as the Conquerors defenders seemed confused which allowed Murray Jr., to tap the ball in for the easy, game winning goal.
“We were always confident that we were going to win, so it was like nothing to us because we are accustomed to winning,” Alpha United captain Howard Lowe told this newspaper following the victory.
“I don’t know where we will go from here but the GFA has a league that will resume shortly so I guess we will be doing that,” Lowe added.
Meanwhile, in the third place playoff, Beacon dominated Sunburst Camptown to cruise to a 3-1 victory in the heated match-up prior the finals.
Beacon scored within the first five minutes of the game, which goal seemed to snuff the life out of the legs of the Camptown players.
Camptown never recovered and Beacon extended their lead just out of the break to make the score 2-0.
Camptown, however, found a glimmer of hope when they snuck one back only to see Beacon dash their hopes by scoring another goal before the end of regulation time to solidify their place as third best team in Georgetown.
