It will be a matchup of contrasting sides when Alpha United lock horns with Pele Football Club and Slingerz Football Club battle Georgetown Football Club (GFC) in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League today at the GFC ground, Bourda.
Once again the feature contest from 20:00hrs between bitter rivals Alpha United and Pele FC is expected to captivate the viewership.
Sitting jointly at the top of the standings following their 2-1 win over GFC on opening night, a resurgent Pele unit will enter this matchup determined to secure a positive result against their fourth-placed opponent following several unsuccessful attempts in the recent past.
Gregory Richardson and Travis Grant, who recently donned Alpha United colours will have a point to prove and will lead a dangerous Pele side comprising Omallo Williams, Deon Alfred, Shem Porter, Jumane Somerset, Okeene Fraser and Devon Charles.
On the other hand, for a team that has won five consecutive titles at this level, ‘the Hammers’ will want to improve on their mid-table position following their scoreless stalemate with arch-rivals Slingerz on the championship opening night.
With the team going through a changing of the guard evident by several younger players making the step-up to the senior ranks, further responsibility must be shouldered by Alpha’s seasoned core of Daniel Wilson, Quincy Madramootoo, Kithson Bain and Wayne Elis, if a win is to be realised.
In an invited comment Pele head-coach Justin Bentick declared “We expect to win the game. The preparation has been smooth and everything going great so far. The team is gelling well and we know we have some tightening up to do defensive. It’s going to be a good game overall but Pele is going come out victorious.”
Bentick added:”The last set of meetings Alpha has been all over Pele but now Pele is rising and we will be coming out victorious. The players are in high spirits right now. They want Alpha and want to win the championship. We will be taking it one game at a time and we know their strengths and have seen weaknesses and will try to capitalize on them.”
Coach of Alpha United Wayne Dover said:”We have to strive for consistency, to defend like we did against Slingerz. We have two more days to spend time on our offensive patterns and go forward more organized. We haven’t worked a lot on our offensive plays because we have a young group of players and had to bring them up to a level to defend as a group.”
According to Dover:”We worked on group defending and individual defending but they also have a responsibility to defend as a collective unit. That’s why they could have gone out there and defend like that on the opening night. We have a couple of days to work on our offensive pattern and still maintain the defensive organization.”
He added:”Our expectation is always to get a good result. Like I said before, if we can’t win the game we must not lose the game. If we can’t acquire the full spoils we will share it and it is still a positive result because we haven’t lost. We can only build from that performance of the young players and aim for the sky which is the limit.”
In the opening affair, the joint fourth-placed Vergenoegen giant Slingerz FC, will attempt to secure their first win of the championship when they lock horns with home side GFC from 18:00hrs.
Held to a scoreless draw in their opening fixture, the West Demerara unit will require an improved showing from their star-studded line-up featuring the likes of Vurlon Mills, Colin Nelson, Tichard Joseph and Domini Garnette, if they are to secure all three points.
Similarly, the hosts and joint cellar occupant will need to improve following their opening night loss to Pele and will need the quintet of Shad Fernandes, Kurt Johnson, Michael Henry, Kacy John and Derick Carter to marshal the charges in their search for their first win.
Winner of the round will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively. Similarly, the point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
Current Points Standings
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Pele 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3
Monedderlust 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3
Fruta Conquerors 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
Alpha United 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Slingerz 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Buxton United 1 0 1 0 0 1 -1 0
GFC 1 0 1 0 1 2 -1 0
Guyana Defence Force 1 0 1 0 2 3 -1 0
