Old enemies will resume hostilities when the eagerly anticipated Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League commences today at the Leonora Sports Facility with a clash of the heavyweights.
While the tourney opener between the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) and Pele FC at 6pm is expected to be an exciting affair, all eyes will be fixated on the main event at 8pm when joint league favourites Alpha United and Slingerz FC lock horns.
In an invited comment, Alpha United coach Wayne Dover told Stabroek Sport that they are aiming to win. “Always our expectation for any tournament or game is to win and that is not going to change. We have to approach the game with one mindset which is to try and give a good performance and get a positive result,” he said.
“We have our game plans and will go into the game very optimistic. If we are disciplined with our performance, we could get the result we are looking for,” he added.
Slingerz FC coach Joseph Wilson said that his side does not normally plan for their opponents. While his opponent will have their plans and strategies, he wants his team to play in a certain system, he explained.
He further said that Alpha United is a good team that is technically and tactically astute. Wilson asserted that he is looking forward to facing that quality because it will make his charges play to their ability and hopefully rise to the occasion and surpass their opponent’s quality.
The match would be the fifth overall meeting between the fierce rivals but it will be their first encounter in a league-based tournament as Slingerz FC is making their debut at this level. Alpha United on the other hand, have secured five consecutive championships at this stage.
In terms of the numbers, the Georgetown unit leads the Vergenoegen giant in the head-to-head matchup, with three wins. However, the most recent showdown between the two sides resulted in a 2-0 win for the West Demerara unit in the finale of the Kashif and Shanghai Tourney.
Despite losing the last meeting, further analysis of the numbers highlight that Alpha United leads the goals scored category with a combined 10 goals over the four matches at a ratio of 2.5 goals per fixture. On the other side, Slingerz have scored four goals over the course of their rivalry.
Quincy Madramootoo, Stellon David and Daniel Favourite leads a transitioning Alpha United side featuring the likes of Williams Europe, Delon Lanferman, Jamal Codrington, Steffon Ramsay, Dorville Stewart and Clive Matthews.
For the West Demerara side, Vurlon Mills and Tichard Joseph feature in a star-studded roster which also comprise of Hubert Pedro, Domini Garnett, Colin Nelson, Joshua Browne and Solomon Austin.
Prior to the two fixtures, a march past featuring all the competing teams will occur. The inaugural event will consist of eight teams from several associations across the country. The event is expected to run for eight months.
The other competing teams are Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Monedderlust FC, Buxton United and Fruta Conquerors. Upon the conclusion of the League Genesis first round, the top four finishers in terms of points will face off against each other in single knockout format to decide the winner of the final round.
The point’s leader will faceoff with the fourth placed side while the second positioned club will tackle the third positioned unit.
Winner of the League Genesis round will pocket $4 million while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2 million, $1 million and $500,000 respectively. The point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1 million.
The second round which is called the League Finale, will utilize the same method but will feature only the top four teams. The eventual season champion will be crowned when the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale respectively, faceoff in a single matchup, with the winner clinching an automatic Caribbean Football Union (CFU) berth.
If the winner of both rounds is the same team, it will claim an automatic berth to the CFU level. The second berth to the Caribbean level tourney will then be awarded to the team with most accumulated points over the two rounds.
