The eagerly anticipated semi-final round of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA)/Banks Beer Cup will commence today with a doubleheader at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, Bourda.
Efficiency will meet unpredictability when the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) faces off with ‘champion slayers’ Santos in a mouthwatering opening semi-final matchup at 18:00hrs. After upstaging Alpha `The Hammer’ United in the quarterfinal round by a 3-2 margin, the army side will look to their attacking
quartet of Delwyn Fraser, Eusi Phillips, Desford Williams and Delroy Fraser to blast them into the finals when the opening whistle sounds.
Earning their `champion slayers’ moniker due to victories over current Kashif and Shanghai titlist Buxton United and GFA/Banks Beer champions Sunburst Camptown respectively, Santos will continue to look to their talismanic Surinamese import Christoff Wensley to lead the attack when kick off time arrives.
GDF coach Denzil ‘Hunky Brains’ Thompson, himself a former national player, in a pre-match comment said: “Every game we must change our strategy because every team plays a different style. We are not going into the game overconfident. This year we are more collective, dynamic and precise in what we are about.
“We are focusing more on the objectives we set than ourselves and taking every game at a time. We need to get to the finals on New Year’s Day,” said Thompson.
Dwain Babb, coach of the Santos unit during an invited comment said: “We respect them for what they do. We have to step up in order to beat them. Knocking out Alpha is not anything easy and we will have to step our game up to beat them.
“I am expecting a hard battle and we definitely have to find a way to slow them down. We have to come out on top and make it to the final,” added Babb.
In what can be described as a budding rivalry, West Ruimveldt giants BK Western Tigers will face off with the kings of West Demerara Slingerz FC, in what is expected to be an enthralling feature showdown at 20:00hrs.
Labouring to a 1-0 win over Beterverwagting (BV)/Triumph United in their quarterfinal engagement, Western Tigers will require an improved showing from their attacking trio of Hubert Pedro, Rensford Coleridge and Stellon David, if victory is to be achieved over their ‘West Side’ adversary.
Disposing of Den Amstel by a 4-0 margin in the West Demerara derby, the star studded Vergenoegen unit will hope to continue their tournament run as they rely on the likes of Vurlon Mills, Kevon Woodley, and Devon
Millington and Dwain Jacobs to propel into the event’s finale. Coach of Western Tigers, Calvin ‘Flu man’ Allen in a pre-match comment said: “I expect a tough encounter and hopefully we can come out victorious this time. They are similar to Alpha in attack as they have very good players with quality.
“We know their strengths and weaknesses. Basically who executes their plan and makes the fewer mistakes will win. It’s a game that could go either way, this is just another step and we are looking forward to the victory,” said Allen.
Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard, coach of Vergenoegen outfit during an invited comment said: “It will be a good game. Western Tigers got some good players and we are not taking them for granted. They are a good team and they earned their semi-final spot. Hopefully the luck can be on our side.
“We just got to play attractive football, we owe the fans a lot of entertainment,” said Pollard.
